So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!

The saying distills a central Lutheran theme: assurance in the face of accusation. The “devil” functions as the prosecuting voice of conscience and law, enumerating real guilt (“I admit that I deserve death and hell”). The pivot is not self-defense but appeal to Christ’s “satisfaction” (atoning work) on the sinner’s behalf—an expression of justification by faith alone and the “happy exchange,” where Christ bears sin and grants righteousness. The final line (“where He is there I shall be also”) ties forgiveness to union with Christ and eschatological hope: salvation rests on Christ’s person and promise rather than the believer’s moral record.