Gerhard and Walther

No man will have God as his Father in heaven who refuses to have the Church for his mother upon the earth.—Johann Gerhard (quoting St. Cyprian), Sacred Meditation XXIII

Christ wants to cover our sins, but He also wants to take them away. He wants to clothe us with His righteousness, but He also wants to take shape in us, to be the High Priest who reconciles us with God, and to be the King who rules over us and in us. He suffered and died to atone for our sins, but He also rose and ascended into heaven that He might live in us and we in Him and so we might walk a new life.—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, p. 888.