Deep-Grace Diving with Tim Wright and Terey Summers

Jon Burgess joins Tim once again as we continue our look at Grace, Salvation, Hell, Eternity, and Christian Universalism.

(Continue to pray for Terey as she mourns the passing of her husband, Jonathan.)

Philippians 2:

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

6 who, though he existed in the form of God,    did not regard equality with God    as something to be grasped,7 but emptied himself,    taking the form of a slave,    assuming human likeness.And being found in appearance as a human,8     he humbled himself    and became obedient to the point of death—    even death on a cross.

9 Therefore God exalted him even more highly    and gave him the name    that is above every other name,10 so that at the name given to Jesus    every knee should bend,    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,11 and every tongue should confess    that Jesus Christ is Lord,    to the glory of God the Father.

Book reference: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader—C.S. Lewis.

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Terey’s husband Jonathan passed away about a month ago. Please keep her in your prayers.

A long time friend, Jon Burgess, joins Tim on this episode and asks some follow up questions raised by the last several podcasts.

Book Reference: Reading Genesis by Marilynne Robinson

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Tim and Terey look at what the Bible has to say about the eternal destiny of evil people.

Notes:

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:43-45)

Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial. Netflix

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Surprisingly, Jesus never once uses the word, Hell. Tim and Terey dive into the concept of Hell, where it came from, and what it really means.

Notes:

That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation, David Bentley Hart

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit recklessgrace.substack.com

Tim and Terey pick up the question from last week’s podcast and look at various Scriptures that strong suggest a God whose grace will have the final say… over all creation.

Notes:

Romans 15

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. 21 For since death came through a human, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human, 22 for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.

Romans 5

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned— (12)

Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. 19 For just as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. (18-19)

Colossians 1:19-20

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

2 Corinthians 5:17-19

17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.

Confessing Jesus

Romans 10:9

because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Philippians 2:9-11

Therefore God exalted him even more highly    and gave him the name    that is above every other name,10 so that at the name given to Jesus    every knee should bend,    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,11 and every tongue should confess    that Jesus Christ is Lord,    to the glory of God the Father.

Grace wins?

Preaching to the dead?

1 Peter 3:19-20

For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20 who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight lives, were saved through water. 

1 Peter 4:6

For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.

God forbid that I should limit the time of acquiring faith to the present life. In the depth of the Divine mercy there may be opportunity to win it in the future. (Martin Luther’s letter to Hanseu Von Rechenberg, 1522)

Punitive Judge or Reconciling/Restorative judge?

Romans 8:38-39

38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit recklessgrace.substack.com

A listener writes in asking if there is any Biblical support for salvation after death. Tim and Terey do some work tilling the ground of conventional belief for that very possibility.

Notes:

Book reference: May Contain Lies by Alex Edmans

1 Timothy 2:1-4

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is right and acceptable before God our Savior, 4 who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For

there is one God;    there is also one mediator between God and humankind,Christ Jesus, himself human,6     who gave himself a ransom for all

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit recklessgrace.substack.com

Tim and Terey are joined by Phoenix Pastor, Caleb Campbell, who talks about his new book on Christian Nationalism called, Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor.

Check out the new Deep Grace Diving Facebook page. You’ll be able to post questions and interact with other seekers of grace.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit recklessgrace.substack.com

Tim and Terey take on another confusing Bible story as a way of better understanding how to read the Bible. Rather than a Sunday School story about a man in a whale, the story of Jonah is one of the most subversive grace stories in the Old Testament.

Check out the new Deep Grace Diving Facebook page. You’ll be able to post questions and interact with other seekers of grace.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit recklessgrace.substack.com

Tim and Terey continue their look at how to read the Bible by turning to one of the seemingly most damning stories about God in the Bible. Could it actually be a story about God’s immense grace?

Check out the new Deep Grace Diving Facebook page. You’ll be able to post questions and interact with other seekers of grace.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit recklessgrace.substack.com

The battle between Evolution and some interpretations of the Genesis 1 Creation Story have been going on for generations. But the two stories need not complete. They may actually compliment each other. Tim and Terey take a deep dive into the creation story from the perspective of the original audience and the literary style of the writer—revealing a God of profound grace and goodness.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit recklessgrace.substack.com