I think the ideas of Hell, and sin and wrong here (I'll expand later).
It also is strange how you Blackseplucher are just stating your opinion and frankly it is just wrong, like all of it, all of the time.
I don't know what kind of Bible you are reading if any, because it says basically the opposite from what you are saying.
Read Romans, or Galatians, or both. Actually both, read both. Read what Paul writes, and John, and Peter, and James. It is not that hard at all, it really isn't.
Romans 3:
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all[
h] who believe. For there is no difference;
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth
as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,
26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 Where
is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.
28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.
29 Or
is He the God of the Jews only?
Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also,
30 since
there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
The problem with what you are saying Black seplucher is that you ignore the very reason Jesus came. The work of Jesus on the Cross: His death and His resurrection.
He took our sin upon Himself, and took our punishment for sin, so that the wrath of God which would be poured out on sin, was taken by Jesus, and He was raised from death conquering sin and death. Therefore, if anyone believes in Christ then they are counted as righteous and just before God, and are saved through His power (grace).
Like Galatians says
14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before
them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you[
b] compel Gentiles to live as Jews?[
c]
15 We
who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,
16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
The Bible clearly says that we are justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law, or by the works of our flesh (any work we do). They will not be justified.
When you say:
Faith gives one a better ability to know what is righteous. Believing in Christ invokes the fear of God, which invokes wisdom of God, which in turn augments one in their works.
It's not hard to grasp unless one simply prefers to labor under legal fictions.
you are clearly wrong if speaking Biblically.
Ephesians says
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
or in Philippians
8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which
is from the law, but that which
is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
We cannot do anything that justifies us before God. That is the basis for Salvation: that it is God who saves, and justifies people who have faith in Jesus. Period. There is no place for works, ever. It doesn't matter what the RCC says, every tradition whether it be Protestant or Catholic that is in opposition to what the scriptures plainly teach, throw it out: be ride rid of it.
The understanding of Hell being a place of fire burning people forever is mostly a Greek idea, but also comes from the interpretations of the "Lake of Fire" in Revelation. However, we do not actually know as much as we think we do about Hell. What we do know is that the people who are thrown into Hell are punished according to the severity of their sins. No one can justify themselves through their own works, only by faith in Jesus.
Which leads me to sin. The understanding of original sin is that humanity is born with a sinful nature, but not with the guilt of sin because even though the nature to sin is passed to us through Adam, we sin by what we do, when we through our intention, words, and actions rebel against God.
What Jesus came to do is to take away our sin and give us a new nature, not one by the physical nature, but by the Holy Spirit. Honestly just read Romans because Paul clearly outlines this whole thing.
OP - When Jesus says as a little child, He means it in the humility to accept by faith the Kingdom of Heaven, which is a real experience now in our lives like today and tomorrow through the Holy Spirit.
Shalom.