@Aaron Abke - Sorry yet we can't start the ontology of God, with what we think reality is.
We're down near Hell, where this world is an 'Enclosed Garden' (Paradise) between the light & the dark; Yeshua called this world Gehenna, which is the top floor of Hell in Judaism.
This world is to be incinerated down to a quantum level, and restored back into the Garden of Eden according to religious prophecy globally (Zoroastrianism - Frashokereti, Dharmic - Mahapralaya, Israelite/Islam - Judgement Day, Norse - Ragnarök).
The universe is going to collapse, and the Bible is an exam to see who are Prytsim (Ravenous - Adharmic), these are to be removed from reality at Judgement Day, which is what is being prophesied by Yeshua; mixing theology with Pharisaic ideas about reality isn't advisable, as they are Prytsim by definition (basically "if the blind follow the blind", it is like following the demons down into the Pits of Hell).
"The Golden Rule" is not salvation, the word Yeshua means Salvation (H3444), and j+sus/j+ses is an insult meaning 'a Beast that Tramples Down/Tares Away'.
We gain salvation by listening to Yeshua: "going the extra mile", "turning the other cheek", giving when someone takes, and basically proving we're unconditionally loving (Philadelphia), in a world of desires down near Hell (Maya); basically we're down here practising to be angels, and the religious leaders have twisted what those sent by God have explained.
Yet let's define what Salvation means in full eschatological context, this realm is to be destroyed, and recreated as Betelgeuse goes supernova; when this takes place God will only resurrect those who've kept to Yeshua's (Salvation's) standards, those who honour the spirit of the Creator within the Messiah, and those who've virtually understood that we're all Avatars (Elohim) in an artificial reality.
We can understand going from a Christianized upbringing that God is like a "Sky-Daddy", means it is easy to go from that, to creating God as some perfect benevolent kind Father figure; when the reality is more like God is like a CPU (Universal Central Processor) manifesting reality at a quantum level, and we're all in a computer game - when the reality is reset, God cares about mathematical wastage, yet computer game characters can be recreated.
This is where Yeshua said if God wished, he could turn rocks into better worshippers than most (Luke 19:40), and our ego/desires, makes us think that we have importance in the grand scheme of the universe.
Whilst you are both still arguing against Pharisaic Christianity (John, Paul, Simon petros), it is harder to see the bigger picture, as the Pharisees have set everyone up as prophesied.
Yeshua came to lay a Snare by his testimony in Isaiah 8:11-22, to see 'who'd speak to the dead on behalf of a living'; the Pharisees then placed the Messiah into the Bed of Adultery (Isaiah 28:9-19+20-21) as they are Prystim, and sold mankind the idea that the Messiah came to die as 'a sin offering' - defiling Isaiah 53:10.
If people were listening to Yeshua's words, they'd realize he came to challenge & cut off the Sanhedrin for murdering the prophets, and claiming that their death's counted as an atonement (Matthew 23:27-38, Matthew 15:1-9, Mark 7:1-13, and the Parable of the Wicked Husbandman (Matthew 21:33-46, Mark 12:1-12, Luke 20:9-19).
There is literally a verse in Ezekiel 33:12 that says, 'that the righteousness of the righteous can not count for another person's sin', so what we've been taught by the Pharisaic authors is all a set up; God allowed this all to take place to catch out the demons who'd follow such evil, and that is what the Bible is about (establishing a Snare down near Hell), not some free gift of unmerited grace, as we've been taught by John, Paul, & Simon petros.
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