“Now, what do we give to Him? An impure bride, a dirty, old, wrinkled outcast. But He is the eternal Wisdom, the eternal Truth, the eternal Light, an exceptionally beautiful Youth. What does He give us then? Himself, wholly and completely. He does not cut a piece off for me or give me a little morsel, but the whole fountain of eternal Wisdom, not a little brooklet. If then I am thus His and He mine, I have eternal life, righteousness, and all that belongs to Him. Therefore I am righteous, saved, and in a sense that neither death, sin, hell, nor satan can harm me. If He gave me only a part of His wisdom, righteousness, and life, I would say: 'That is of no help to me, but I want Thee, without Thee nothing is real and true. Thee alone will I have, Thou art mine, and not the ring, not the jewel, not the present.’

“Now, what do we bring to Him? Nothing but all our heartaches, all our misfortunes, sins, misery, and lamentations. He is the eternal Light, we the eternal darkness; He the Life, we death; He Righteousness, we sin. This is a marriage that is very unequal. But what does the Bridegroom do? He is so fastidious that He will not dwell with His Bride until He first adorns her in the highest degree. How is that done? He instituted a washing; that washing is Baptism, with which He washes her. More than this, He has given to her His Word; in that she believes, and through her faith she becomes a Bride. The Bridegroom comes with all His treasures; but I come with all my sins, with all my misery and heart-griefs. But because this is a marriage and a union, in the sense that they become one flesh, they should embrace each other and not disown one another, although one is even a little sick and awkward; for what concerns one, the other must also bear.

“Therefore, the Bride says, I am Thine, Thou must have me; then He must at the same time take all my misfortune upon Himself. Thus then are my sins eternal righteousness, my death eternal life, my hell heaven; for these two, sin and righteousness, cannot exist together, nor heaven and hell. Are we now to come together, the one must consume and melt the other in order that we may be united and become one. Now His righteousness is truly incomparably stronger than my sins, and His life unmeasurably stronger than my death; for He is Life itself where all life must be kindled. Therefore my death thus vanishes in His life, my sins in His righteousness, and my condemnation in His salvation. Here my sin is forced between the hammer and the anvil, so that it perishes and vanishes. For now since my sin, my filth is taken away, He must adorn me and clothe me with His eternal righteousness and with all His grace until I become beautiful; for I am His Bride.”

Sermons of Martin Luther V (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House), pp. 232-234