Just and Sinner
This is a short selection of citations from Gerhard’s Sacred Meditations (the edition put out by Magdeburg Press, available here), on the doctrine of the unio mystica.
“The Savior himself was clothed in the flesh so that, by communicating the glory of divinity to the flesh, he could purify the sinful flesh, so that, by the healing power of his perfect righteousness that was communicated to the flesh, he could purge the poisonous quality of sin inherent in our flesh, and in this way obtain grace for our flesh.”- 25
“But even if my nature has been infected by the devil, if I have been injured and wounded by robbers, that is to say by sins, nevertheless my Creator still lives. The One who created me will also be able to restore me. He who created me without any evil will be able to raise me up from every evil, that is, from the suggestion of the devil, the transgression of Adam, also my own personal action, having entered into me and worked through my whole substance.”-43
“To make us sons of God he himself was born a man.”- 44
“Love unites and love changes…If you love God and the divine, you will become divine. Love of God is the chariot of Elijah ascending into heaven.”-48
“Faith alone implants us into our Savior, so that from our faith, like sap from a vine, we derive life, righteousness, and salvation (John 15:4). Adam has cut down the grace of God and lost the divine image by his unbelief, but we, on the other hand, have received grace and the image of God has begun to be renewed in us by faith.”-56
“When faith weds us to Christ, it unites us with Christ, and for that reason faith is the mother of all strength in us. Where faith is, there is Christ. Where Christ is, there is a holy life, namely, true humility, true gentleness and true love.”- 58
“God became man to make us partakers of grace from God and of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).”
“This most divine feast will make us divine men, until we at long last are made partakers of the future blessedness, ‘of all of God, and like him alone, and complete participants in the divine nature.'”- 88
“Faith unites and joins us to Christ. Therefore, those who are in Christ will not die, for Christ is their life. ‘Whoever clings to God through faith is one spirit with Him’ (1 Corinthians 6:17). For this reason, then, the faithful will not die in eternity, for Christ is their life.” -180
“We enemies of God not only receive grace, but he remits our sins, gives us righteousness, leads us to a heavenly inheritance, and even goes so far as to make us like the angels and himself.”- 197
“The elect will be lucid because of their affinity to God, who dwells in inaccessible light (1 Timothy 6:16) and is clothed with light (Psalm 104:2). They will be incorruptible, for they will be conformed to the angels, no even more, to the glorified body of Christ himself (Philippians 3:21).”-200
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