Even if your scripture does all that, I don't see any reason in that for thinking that everything in the stories actually happened exactly in exactly the way the stories say. In fact, I think that a perfectly accurate description of what happened would detract from those purposes.
You can think whatever you like.....that is why we have free will....
There is one truth and our judge is the one who teaches it. He knows who is obedient to that truth and who is not.
My mother is a ‘nominal’ “Christian”......it’s something she puts on a piece of paper if asked what religion she follows. She has not set foot inside a church for over 60 years except to attend weddings and funerals. She tells me that if you live a good life and don’t do harm to anyone, that you are right with God and you will go to heaven. That is what she believes....but is that what Jesus taught?
There are two main criteria that those who are “saved” must fulfill....
Mark 12:28-31...
“
28 One of the scribes who had come up and heard them disputing, knowing that he had answered them in a fine way, asked him: “Which commandment is first* of all?” 29 Jesus answered: “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Jehovah, 30 and you must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind and with your whole strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
These two commands form the basis of all the commands that God gave his people. Unless you fulfill the first one, the second one just makes you a good humanitarian, not a good Christian. God wants our heart-felt love, not just our blind obedience. Mindless performance is not what he requires.....if we know him, we will see the wisdom in all that he commands us. We have to be “doing” what God commands....not just refraining from doing evil. (Matthew 7:21-23)
Unless you know the God of the Bible, (Jehovah) you cannot love him and foster the will to apply his laws without feeling as if they are too difficult, or unfair.....rather he wants us to appreciate his commands as a very beneficial part of life. (1 John 5:3)
Our sinful minds and bodies are selfish and God’s laws work against our self-centeredness, so it takes time to train a conscience to respond to God’s commands from the heart....knowing that they are for our good and the good of those around us. God is not the fun police.....he is trying to teach us how to control our selfish desires so that others are not damaged by our actions....physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually.
Free will when it is abused, causes harm in all those areas.
Following through on all the teachings of Jesus Christ, (whose teachings originated with his God) will draw us closer to his Father, who then becomes our Father. This life is our opportunity to show God who we are, and what kind of citizens we will make in his Kingdom...the one Jesus taught us to pray for. (Matthew 6:9-10)
Those who qualify will enter that Kingdom, but those who are disqualified will suffer eviction.....that is what I believe the Bible teaches.
