"I’m more of a golden rule follower. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That seems to suffice."
That will not allow you to see or enter the kingdom of heaven because you haven't done that 100%. You have sinned & failed to keep the commandments of God. You are a seeker not a spiritually born again Christian. Unless you are born TWICE in this life, you cannot enter God's kingdom, as Jesus taught. He also taught that unless your repent, you will all likewise perish.
I see you don't believe the Scriptures are God's Word, believing one passage and denying another, as in this thread. You apparently don't believe God spoke what was in the Bible & then divinely had His prophets & apostles & chosen writers of Scripture to write down what God did indeed speak as revelation through the leading & guiding of the Holy Spirit.
God was the one who told Abraham to sacrifice his only son. Doing some study this very site that Abraham chose was the very site for Christ's death on Golgotha. It was an Old Testament picture of God the Father giving His only Son as the substitutionary death in our place, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones (us), in order to bring about repentance on our part.
If you want to SEEK to understand that picture, read the whole chapter of Genesis 22 and then see Hebrews 11:17-19.
Genesis 22:4ff On the 3RD day Abraham looked up & saw the place in the distance.
5“Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told HIS SERVANTS. “The boy & I will go over there to worship & then WE WILL RETURN TO YOU.”
6Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering & placed it on his son Isaac. He himself carried the fire & the sacrificial knife & the two of them walked on together. Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!”
“Here I am, my son,” he replied. “The fire & the wood are here,” said Isaac, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “GOD HIMSELF WILL PROVIDE THE LAMB FOR THE BURNT OFFERING, MY SON." And the two walked on together.
9When they arrived at the place God had designated, Abraham built the altar there & arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac & placed him on the altar, atop the wood.
10Then Abraham reached out his hand & took the knife to slaughter his son.
11Just then, the Angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the Angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me.”
13Then Abraham looked up & saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went & took the ram & offered it as a burnt offering IN PLACE OF HIS SON.
14And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide..."
15And the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a 2nd time, saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this & have not withheld your only son, I will surely bless you & I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky & the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies. And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, BECAUSE YOU HAVE OBEYED MY VOICE.”
Heb 11:17-19 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son, even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.” He concluded that God
was able to raise
him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
Each person must recognize as God states in Scripture that each person's sins separate them from a relationship with the living God. There is no remedy for us. Those sins lead to our spiritual death & eventually physical death. We are spiritually dead in our trespasses & sins & in need of a Savior who shed His blood to bring us forgiveness.
If you don't believe you are lost & separated from God because of your sins, you will not see the need for the Savior of the world. You will continue to stubbornly go your own way, rebelling against God & doing what you think is right. You can only come to God on His terms, not yours.
It is what God says is right & you must come to Him as He says is the absolute & only way to be made right with Him: through putting your trust & faith in Jesus Christ. God sees the sincerity of your heart & trust in Christ to save you. Then He makes you spiritually alive and gives you the very life of God and a right relationship with Him. You are no longer lost (as the prodigal son) but have been found by Christ who saves you upon your repentance from going your own way & going Christ's way, confessing Him as Lord & lovingly obeying and following Him now.
Proverbs 14:12 There is a path before each person that seems right, but its end is the way to death.
Romans 3:23 All have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God.
Isaiah 59:1,2 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
James 2:10,11 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
I was in the same situation, as the Apostle Paul describes me, as well as other lost, unsaved people in Scripture (before I became spiritually born a second time by the Holy Spirit):
Ephesians 2:12,13 Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
Romans 10:6-10,17
But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down) or, ‘Who will descend into the Abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”
8But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth & in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord” & believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe & are justified & with your mouth you confess & are saved. Consequently, faith comes by hearing & hearing by the word of God.