Paradoxes, dilemmas, and contradictions in the Bible - Think like a Hebrew

There's a lot of wrestling going on in the Church with various doctrines. It sometimes gets to ridiculous proportions, with claims of heresy flying about. There are various groups taking on the role of Doctrinal Police, micro-examining every little statement of suspected infidels. 

This is the intellectual mindset that descends out of the Greek tradition, more generally termed western thought. By contrast, the Bible is a Hebrew production. The Hebrew mindset is completely different than the Greek one:

"Intellectually, we are Greeks, not Hebrews. We apply Aristotelian and Socratic thought patterns to practically everything. It is surprisingly difficult to escape these patterns and enter into the Hebraic mindset. We insist on rendering everything into logically consistent patterns, on systematizing it, on organizing it into tight, carefully reasoned theologies. We cannot live with inconsistency or contradiction... 

The Western mind, when seeking to understand Scripture or what it means to be a "Christian," creates its own exegetical and theological dilemmas. ("If God is all-powerful, could he build a rock too heavy for himself to lift?" or "If God is love then why does he allow…?") We relentlessly attempt to organize everything into manageable intellectual blocks and structures. We want all questions answered, all problems solved, and all contradictions resolved.

Thus our western linear, logical, systematic way of thinking creates problems and conflicts that simply don't exist in the Hebraic way of thinking. Some of these are

Is salvation by grace or works?
Is baptism required for salvation?
Are we saved, being saved, or going to be saved?
Is the Kingdom coming, is it here, is it to come?
How can we be dead to the world and still live in it?
Are we supposed to become poor to become rich?
Are we righteous, being made righteous, or going to be righteous?
Are we perfect, or are we going to be perfect?
Are we once saved always saved, or can we lose our salvation?
Did the miraculous gifts of the Spirit cease, or do they continue today?
How can we be humble and yet be exalted?

Each of these is a binary question, yes/no, on/off, go/stop. They set up a logical tension between two choices, and the answer is unsatisfying either way. But God is not binary. For the Hebrew mind there is no need to resolve perceived conflicts. Paradoxes are not to be solved, but to be contemplated. There is no requirement for linear thought.

If you review the choices above and answer each question yes, you will begin to understand God's intent for us. Similarly, you may answer each question with a no. Either way, the name of the game is to marvel at the goodness of God, and begin to gain understanding about this Scripture:

Is. 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

And then we as Christians begin to have the patterns of our mind transformed, so that 1Co. 2:16 becomes true for us: "'For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ." All the minutiae of doctrinal conflicts begin to become irrelevant.