If I said don't put that loaded gun in your mouth and pull the trigger or you'll die, would that be considered a threat? Just as you said, there is a difference between a warning and a threat, but there is also a huge difference between hypothetical and certainty. I am not sure a person would die as there is a possibility, however small that they may survive a gunshot to the skull...God on the other hand is Omniscient.
God knows the outcome, He knows "all" the outcomes, all the probabilities, all the possibilities and what is "absolute certainty."
When God tells us that if we do such and such we will be condemned for eternity, there is no doubt, no other possible outcome, no other probability. It is absolute. So when God says this and also at the same time says that He has provided The Way so we can be spared this fate if we just put our trust in and believe in His Only Son Jesus Christ, it is not merely a warning, but an extended arm, a bridge, an escape, the Divine Pardon, the Only way to survive what is otherwise unavoidable and eternal.
What do you say? You say that Our God, the Only True and Loving God has already provided the way to avoid this fate, this condemnation, this hell. He does not need to threaten as the result of sin is death and all people in this life "will" die, no one can avoid it and all people have a choice to believe in God or not. Where is the threat? It is freedom in it's truest sense. Die if you will, live if you will. He informs, He warns, He offers a way of escape out of love as a Father to His children, and He has sacrificed Himself for us. What more do people expect Him to do? Just as a person in a river in need of rescue must reach out their own hands and take the offered hand that is there reaching out to rescue them, people must be "willing" to take His offered hand of salvation. He doesn't force us to take it.
Ask them instead, what do they expect God to do? Do they desire a God who does according to the faulty human understanding or perception? That He does not fulfill His Own Law? That He allows human beings to do whatever they want in any manner they decide for themselves and then just gives them everything they ask for regardless of their actions, intentions and motivation? Even human fathers would not do so for their own children.
Ask them why they in their infinite wisdom have not fixed the flawed world we live in? If God is to do as they see fit according to their expectations of Him, then logically they "must" be more powerful and more knowing than their idea of who god is...yet they can't even prevent themselves form dying so why trust their "opinion."
Ask them if they want God to be the Islamic Djinn "Jeanie" who just grants us wishes...or do they want to know the ONE & Only, The Almighty, The Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, All Good with no evil in Him, All Loving God who can provide for them, can heal them, can save them in every way from the penalty for their sins in this life? And if they say yes then ask them why they don't listen to Him, because He wants to do just that, He promises just that, He is offering The Way out right this minute in Love and Mercy by faith in Christ.
I don't know what else you could do. You can't force them to take the hand that is reaching out to save them every second of every day of their lives...
God Bless you, and certainly don't be discouraged ;)
Take Care and I'll see you in the Kingdom!
P.S. I just saw a flawed comparison...believe in my Son or go to hell is the gist...
This misses the cause for the warning...obviously. This would be a more accurate summary:
Break the Law of God and you will be condemned for it as there is only one penalty for breaking the Law of God. Since all people are sinners who have broken God's Law, God provides us, out of Love, the "Means" to be "spared" from the penalty that we "earned" through our own actions of rebellion in breaking God's Law. We are to have faith in Christ, the Messiah, Savior of the World Who died for our sins so we could be spared an eternity separated from God, as nothing sinful can be with God in His Kingdom. All we must do is put our trust and faith in His Son Jesus Christ and live our lives with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit of God, the Helper Who dwells within us, cleansing/preparing (sanctifying) us until we leave this world and enter God's Kingdom as adopted sons and daughters into God's Family...
Doesn't sound remotely threatening to me...more like the greatest offer of all time.
They also miss this:
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John 3:16
16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that
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>>>> (my emphasis)
17 <<<<>>>> (my emphasis)
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
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And this
2 Peter 3:
3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the LORD a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The LORD is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you,
<<<<>>>>(my emphasis)
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