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.

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.