An Instruction on How to Get Better Is Not a Threat
Imagine a drug addict goes into a therapist's office and asks for advice.
The therapist says, "Given your condition, you're going to have to check in to rehab for three months. It's the only way you're going to get better. Otherwise, you are certain to be dead within a year."
The addict re-acts by saying "What?! You're threatening me with death if I don't follow your 'way'?"
Of course, that is not what is going on at all. The therapist, an expert on these sorts of problems, is just trying to give the addict a realistic view of the situation he faces. And the situation the addict faces is not of the therapist's making.
Well, that is closely analogous to the doctrine of salvation through Christ. Everyone of us is in a bad state. We cannot get out of it by our own efforts. But an expert "therapist" comes and offers us a way out.
That is not a threat, but an offer of help.
The therapist says, "Given your condition, you're going to have to check in to rehab for three months. It's the only way you're going to get better. Otherwise, you are certain to be dead within a year."
The addict re-acts by saying "What?! You're threatening me with death if I don't follow your 'way'?"
Of course, that is not what is going on at all. The therapist, an expert on these sorts of problems, is just trying to give the addict a realistic view of the situation he faces. And the situation the addict faces is not of the therapist's making.
Well, that is closely analogous to the doctrine of salvation through Christ. Everyone of us is in a bad state. We cannot get out of it by our own efforts. But an expert "therapist" comes and offers us a way out.
That is not a threat, but an offer of help.
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