A small church in Tucson, called Vineyard Christian Community, baptized me and my friends in 1994. In doing so, they declared that not only had God cleansed us from all of our sin, but they were doing the same to us as well. They knew we would hurt them in various relationships over time. Yet, they chose not to condemn us and freely welcomed us into the community. They had declared our forgiveness before-the-fact, and were not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters.
There are two primary ways a community of believers baptize each other over time. The first is grace and the second is truth. Jesus came into this world to show us both of them (John 1:14). Grace is total forgiveness and affirmation of each other even if it takes time to do so. I say that I forgive you so that you might live. A community which lacks forgiveness of one another is full of dead people. A community which practices grace is full of life.
Truth is closely related to grace because in truth we confront one another when there is a violation. If you hurt me or the community and I or we fail to confront you on that behavior, then this is a failure to love. We essentially say, “We do not love you enough to help cleanse you from your sin so that you can develop positive, healthy relationships.” In a spirit of truth, we help each other move from self-condemnation and outwardly hurtful behavior to self-affirming and uplifting behavior.
Grace and truth go hand-in-hand. They are both affirming, if done in the right manner. They both fall under the umbrella of love, which is the highest command. Let’s remember that God baptizes us (washes us clean) over time in the midst of a spiritual community, through grace and truth.
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