Lol. First, sir, I really don't care what you think are the criteria for being saved. Those are criteria that, according Matthew 7, God will hold you to, if you hold others to them. So good luck with that, especially holding blatant contradictions in your mind with regards to stuff like this. I understand, in order to accept everything in the new testament one must practice certain mental gymnastics and selectively apply standards.
To wit, I'll lay it out for you plain:
John 20: 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
If this is true, and "Paradise" means the abode of God, heaven, etc - to which, Christ, according to this verse had NOT yet ascended...
Then this:
Luke 23: 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[d]”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Cannot be.
