16 November 2021

Gerhard and Walther

 Ah, in what awful anguish I saw Thee upon Mount Calvary, and now in what glory I behold Thee upon Mount Olivet! There Thou didst suffer alone; here Thou art attended by a vast multitude of the angelic hosts; there Thou didst ascend to the cross, here Thou dost ascend in a cloud to heaven; there Thou wast crucified between two thieves, here Thou dost exult among angelic choirs; there Thou wast nailed to the cross as a condemned criminal, here free from all condemnation, Thou art the deliverer of those condemned to eternal death; there Thou didst bleed and die, here Thou dost rejoice and triumph.—Johann Gerhard, Sacred Meditation XXI

But the true faith, to which the Holy Scripture attributes salvation, is something completely different. This faith has such great power that the person who carries it in his heart is completely changed by it. He becomes a new person, who leads a truly pious life. True faith works what nothing else in the world can work in a person.—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, p. 873.

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