This beautiful, consoling message will be of no avail if you go on to say: “Christ died and rose again for sinners and so I feel there is still hope for me.” Yes, that’s all well and good. But if you still want to remain in your old skin and if you need this message as an excuse to cover up your outrageous miserliness, your puffed up arrogance and your lasciviousness, this is what is written in answer to all that: “Do not accept this consolation. Although Christ died and rose again for the sake of everyone, this does not yet apply to you. This is because you did not apprehend this resurrection with faith. You saw the smoke, but failed to feel the fire (...).
Schriften, 21. Band, S. 272