Gerhard and Walther

So, then, these divine, unfailing promises of temporal and eternal rewards for good works can and should indeed rightly awaken us to true godliness. For God the Lord has especially given such great promises in order that we thereby awaken and encourage our indolent, sinful flesh, so that it does not hinder or restrain us on the pathway of the divine commands, but instead that we hasten toward the set goal with eager zeal.—Johann Gerhard, Schola Pietatis I:141.

It is an exceedingly precious and comforting truth, firmly grounded in God’s Word, that God always receives a person when he repents, even if it is in the hour of his death... Yet this truth is not given for the comfort of those who are healthy so they may delay their repentance until the last hour.—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, p. 185, 186.