Before Jesus Christ's ministry began, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness about repentance from sin and baptism. In Matthew 3:11, he speaks of three distinct baptisms, declaring, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. All four gospels mention baptism by water and the Holy Spirit, but only Matthew and Luke refer to baptism by fire. John further defines the baptism of fire in Matthew 3:12, stating, His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. This baptism of fire represents a punishing judgment, distinct from the cleansing of water and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

The Baptism of John is presented as a symbolic precursor to the true baptism commanded by Jesus Christ. John preached and practiced a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, calling people to turn from their ways in anticipation of the coming Messiah. This baptism drew large crowds to Aenon near Salim, where abundant water allowed many to participate, and it occurred early in Jesus' ministry before John's imprisonment. The account notes that John's baptism differed sharply from Jewish ritual washings performed in mikvahs solely for ceremonial purification to enable temple participation. When a dispute arose between John's disciples and the Jews over purification, the argument highlighted these distinctions and prompted John's disciples to report that Jesus and His disciples were baptizing even greater numbers in the same region. John's baptism is described as preparatory rather than spiritually effective. It was not administered in the name of Jesus Christ, nor did it convey the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands, because Christ's sacrifice had not yet been completed. Consequently, those baptized by John later required rebaptism in the name of the Lord Jesus to receive the Spirit. The text stresses that John's role was that of the forerunner who must decrease as Christ increases, underscoring that true salvation comes only through belief in the Son, obedience to the truth, and the full process of regeneration by water and the Spirit. This example illustrates the progressive nature of salvation, in which John's ministry points forward to the supremacy of Christ and the necessity of receiving the complete spiritual rebirth that leads to eternal life.

John the Baptizer introduced baptism prior to the Christian era, drawing his understanding and authority from the teachings of his righteous parents and the Holy Scriptures, which at that time consisted only of the Old Testament. Through the power of God's Spirit, He revealed to John the spiritual principle of baptism, preparing a people to hear the message of the soon-coming Messiah. The Jews, even before John's time, used a form of baptismal ordinance for proselytes to Judaism, so when John required his followers to be baptized, it was not seen as a new or strange practice. Repentant sinners needed to demonstrate their repentance through an outward sign, reflecting the historical example of Israel under Moses. John saw in Scripture that the crossing of the Red Sea by the entire nation of Israel served as a type of individual immersion in water, symbolizing a transformative act of leaving behind an old way of life.