Gerhard and Walther

Whoever wants to be obedient towards God must also engross himself with the holiness and the fulfillment of God’s commands. For that is God’s earnest will—that we busy ourselves with holiness and keep His commands (1 Thes. 4:3). Without the sanctification and fulfilling of God’s commandments, no person is able to render a complete obedience to God the Lord.—Johann Gerhard, Schola Pietatis III:252,253.

When the poor world sees how disunited Christians are among themselves, it finds little reason to embrace the faith and is even comforted in rejecting it. Many are offended who might have been won to Christianity.—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, p. 563.