Well as far as paradise is concerned, Jesus said the repentant thief who died alongside him would be with him that day in paradise.
Now at that point bible scholar arguments get thick and ponderous. Some go for the partitioned-Sheol theory based on shadowings of the Old Testament. Some could posit that since the finished death of Christ atoned, this was a heavenly region, where the repentant are accepted by God.
But we can say the presence of the Lord is a heavenly region; and if you stunt your thought by saying that only what Jesus was directly quoted to assert in the gospels is true, then you’d find yourself hard put to say He was even God. That’s because He did not want his mouth to say He was God; that’s because he wanted his works to do that. “Believe the miracles.”
So if a rephrase does not edify you, buzz off and go somewhere that you do get edified. Don’t insist on tearing it down for everybody else.
So if a rephrase does not edify you, buzz off and go somewhere that you do get edified. Don’t insist on tearing it down for everybody else.