“But every person must have experienced something of the bitterness  of penitence, or he will never even begin to relish the sweetness of the Gospel…Unless the rocky subsoil in their hearts has been pulverized by the Law, the sweet Gospel is of no benefit to them.

It is indeed a common observation that all those who have passed through great and profound sorrow at the beginning have become the best and most stalwart Christians.”

– The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel – C.F.W. Walther