The conversation that I have been having with you about Paradise, Eden and the Tree of Life, are the type of conversations I was raised with.  Every Sunday, all the family--at least ten of us--ate Sunday dinner at my Mom's house.  And since all of the Adults were Bible teachers at our church, they would talk about what had come up in class.  Sometimes there were answers, sometimes only questions.

The path to salvation had long been settled:  Jesus is our Tree of Life.  He is the way--the only way--to God.  There is one sacrifice.  He was it.  Awaited as the Messiah--the Lamb of God--in the Old Testament.  The faithful were held in Paradise until his death and resurrection, and then freed to be with him forevermore.  They were saved by faith.  We are saved by faith. They looked forward, we look backwards to God's sacrificial Lamb, Jesus.  My family were Bible scholars and I was mentally saturated in Scripture all of my life.  As a result, I wonder and ponder  about the side issues such as:  Baptism can't save you or the thief on the cross couldn't had gone to Paradise--and Jesus said he did. "This day will you be with me in Paradise."   Jesus was baptized and he surely didn't need salvation.  But it is required as an act of obedience.  It identifies us as Children of God.

And good works can't save you--although they are a certain sign that Jesus is Lord of your life.  There is no way that Jesus can live in your life and you can willingly, willfully do those things that cause Him pain.  That's not what love is about.  We obey.  Loving children obey.  And when we mess up, we immediately talk it over with God and ask forgiveness.  And we don't keep doing the same sin over and over.  That makes no sense.  How can I love someone and purposefully cause them pain.

The conversations at the kitchen table on Sunday were about "Fine-tuning" concepts in Scripture.  Some questions couldn't be answered, but my elders never argued, they just pondered.  It was an unusual upbringing for a kid.  But the blessing is mine.  The things that are "knowable" by study of Scripture, I know.  The things that aren't knowable, I ponder.  I have a million questions to ask when I get to heaven.