Gerhard and Walther

What then could be more noble or better than for a poor person upon earth to direct to heaven the same activity along with the holy angels and the elect? That he can, at the same time, step into the chorus of the holy angels and elect and simultaneously lift up his voice to God in praise along with them?…Praise of God is the true attribute and characteristic of a true Christian.—Johann Gerhard, Schola Pietatis III:351,2.

According to our Gospel, justification is not an act a person performs himself, but something done in him by God. It does not begin in a person’s heart, but in the heart of God.—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, p. 653.