Dr. Law and Dr. Grace (Part 2)

Continued from part 1...

The man had done everything seemingly that Dr. Religion had instructed him to do, but it wouldn't satisfy the unrest in his soul! The feeling that something was missing never left. All the activity that the "feel good" Dr. Religion had prescribed, did nothing but temporarily relieve the symptoms of a bigger problem. Dr. Religion only dealt with the surface, but what the man figured was that he had a heart problem. With a down trodden spirit, he continued to go back to the building with the steeple, for one shot after another, from Dr. Religion's syringe but that uneasy feeling never left him. Trying to forgive himself didn't work. Baptism hadn't worked. All his praying and begging God hadn't worked. The guilt for his life of sin, simply was too much to overcome. He decided that there was no hope for him. He decided that he was too far gone to be forgiven and saved from everlasting torment of the fires of hell. His final option was to go see Dr. Law once before he completely gave up, and find out what he would prescribe for his problem.

Now, Dr. Law was a stern man whose character composed of no mercy or forgiveness. He was a hard narrow man with no feelings that anyone knew of. If a person messed up, Dr. Law would let them know immediately. He was always accusing people and yelling "GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY", every time someone did something wrong. Also, when people went to see Dr. Law, they were never seen from again. They just ceased to exist. There was long running talk that Dr. Law kills people. That's why it was so scary to go see him, for the reason that no one had ever seen patients come out of his office alive. Needless to say, you didn't go to see him for a common ailment.

Finally the man, though nervously, went to the office door and lightly knocked on the door. A loud booming voice seemed to shake the whole building, thundered, "COME ON IN!"
Even more frightened now, the man slowly opened the door and stepped inside. The huge hulking figure of Dr. Law emerged wiping the blood off of a big sharp looking knife.
"What can I do for you?", Dr. Law said without sign of any feeling.
"Well sir", the man said with his voice wavering, "I have this unrest in my soul from all this guilt, and I tried Dr. Religion and tried doing the things you wrote in that book, but all my effort isn't easing the disturbance in my soul!".

Dr. Law stood there with his penetrating gaze, simply staring as if right into the man's soul before replying, "You didn't read what I said. I said that if you DO what I say, then you'll have eternal life, but if you disobey my law in in one spot, then you have to die."
"Bbbutt", the man stammered, "I tried to follow the regiment Dr. Religion said to do as well as..."
"You tried?!!", Dr. Law loudly interrupted, "You think a try is going to cut it with God?! You think a weak halfhearted effort will please Almighty God?! I said if you DO the law. A "try" holds no water with me boy. The soul that sinneth, it shall DIE! You are guilty, guilty, guilty and I condemn you to eternal death!"

His face white as a sheet, the man tried to move his mouth to formulate another excuse, but nothing would come out. His mouth slowly closed and was stopped because he knew he was guilty. He knew that Dr. Law was right and that there was nothing more he could do. He had tried in the past to justify his sinful actions and remove the guilt through Dr. Religion, but Dr. Law showed him that he had come up frightfully short. A dreadful feeling of emptiness came over him as he exited the office by the back door and stumbled down the alley with the looming death sentence over him. With the realization that all his self effort and goodness wasn't enough, a sense of hopelessness enveloped him. Panic started to creep in as the reality of the coming judgment overwhelmed him.

"Guilty, guilty, guilty", echoed through the man's mind as he wandered aimlessly through the dark alley. He kept walking and almost immediately there was a sign that said "Detour" with an arrow pointing right. He examined the sign closer and saw in small letters at the bottom, "Dr. Law construction". Suspiciously he followed the arrow on the sign and as he went along, the road grew more and more narrow until it finally funneled right into the door of an old house. The blinking neon sign read, "Dr. Grace".

The man's heart began to pound with excitement. Could it really be true?! A doctor called "Grace"? Hope sprang up in his heart as he immediately started pounding on the door hoping that the good doctor was still open for business.
A voice behind the closed door said, "Coming, coming".
He heard a few soft footsteps and then, the door opened and the man beheld a most welcoming and amazing sight. Dr. Grace was dressed in pure white and his countenance practically shone like a full moon on a clear night. A friendly smile must have been a permanent fixture on the nice doctor's face. It sure was a step up from the "no mercy", demeanor of Dr. Law.

The man quickly and excitingly blurted out his story about how unrest and guilt in his soul was eating him up, and how he was scared of the judgment to come and how Dr. Religion failed to deal with the heart issue and how Dr. Law had justly condemned him to death. He explained to Dr. Grace about his sin problem and how that he desired peace with God, but that through all his attempts he had come up short and now he didn't know where to go and to whom to turn.

Dr. Grace had a knowing smile on his face as he started to speak, "I get people with your story in here from time to time. Not as often as I'd like, because many never make it past that terrible man, Dr. Religion. You see, Dr. Religion is bad because he gets in between a sinner and the forgiveness he needs. He deceptively tells you that it's not to late to keep trying to earn peace with God, when it's too late because Dr. Law has already passed the death sentence and pronounced you guilty. It's a good thing you went to see Dr. Law, for the reason that you'd never know you were guilty if it wasn't for him. Dr. Law and I work together. Dr. Law condemns them, pronounces them guilty, and squeezes them right in through my door."

"So what happens now?", the man said.

To be continued...