Gerhard and Walther

Anyone who properly loves God the Lord shall also love His Word. Anyone who does not love God’s Word, also does not love God the Lord.—Johann Gerhard, Schola Pietatis III:111.

Oh, what kind of hot and inexpressibly great fire must burn in God’s heart toward us Christians that He resolved before we born—even from eternity—to choose us. This is a love that is higher than the heavens, wider than the earth, deeper than the ocean, and as long as eternity.—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, p. 480.