Gerhard and Walther

Let Thy most sacred divinity, which sustained Thy human nature in Thy passion, which refrained from the exercise of its glorious power while the adorable mystery of my redemption was being wrought out, and which gave infinite value and merit to Thy suffering for sin, so that God might ransom me—me, a miserable sinner—with His own blood (Acts xx, 28), come to my assistance in my distress!—Johann Gerhard, Sacred Meditation XI.

When a Christian receives and rests upon private absolution, is he not raised above all doubt? Must he not say when forgiveness is spoken to him in Christ’s name, it is just as if Christ Himself had come down from heaven and spoken it to him with His own mouth?—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, p. 786.