Please let me explain the irony in this statement using an example. If I say to a child: if you tidy your room I'll reward you from now on; if you don't I'll punish you from now on. If you then add: the choice is yours. There is no way that this could be called a choice any more than you could call the "choice" that you mention a genuine choice.
No that's not the case,
It's not a matter of doing this or that in order to get a rewarded
What God is, only what he is can exist within him, nothing else.
If you're not like him you pure and simply cannot exist with what he is.
The only way you can be transformed to exist within that existence is to be united with Jesus, he is the bridge that you must cross to get there, in order to exist there.
He's not saying I'll punish you from now on if you don't do as I say,
He's telling you how not to hurt yourself by being separated from him, and he's given you the means in Jesus.
The only other option he has is to grab you by the ears and pull you in
