67; St. L. 1849.)

According to Luther, therefore, nothing can or does occur independently
of God, or differently from what His omniscience has foreseen. Luther:
"Hence it follows irrefutably that all things which we do, and all
things which happen, although to us they seem to happen changeably and
contingently, do in reality happen necessarily and immutably, if one
views the will of God. For the will of God is efficacious and cannot be
thwarted since it is God's natural power itself. It is also wise, so
that it cannot be deceived. And since His will is not thwarted, the work
itself cannot be prevented, but must occur in the very place, time,
manner, and degree which He Himself both foresees and wills." (E. 134;
St. L. 1692.)

238. God Not the Cause of Sin.

Regarding God's relation to the sinful actions of men, Luther held that
God is not the cause of sin. True, His omnipotence impels also the
ungodly; but the resulting acts are evil because of man's evil nature.
He writes: "Since, therefore, God moves and works all in all, He
necessarily moves and acts also in Satan and in the wicked. But He acts
in them precisely according to what they are and what He finds them to
be (_agit in illis taliter, quales illi sunt, et quales invenit_). That
is to say, since they are turned away [from Him] and wicked, and [as
such] are impelled to action by divine omnipotence, they do only such
things as are averse [to God] and wicked, just as a horseman driving a
horse which has only three or two [sound] feet (_equum tripedem vel
bipedem_) will drive him in a manner corresponding to the condition of
the horse (_agit quidem taliter, qualis equus est_), _i.e._, the horse
goes at a sorry gait. But what can the horseman do? He drives such a
horse together with sound horses, so that it sadly limps along, while
the others take a good gait. He cannot do otherwise unless the horse is
cured. Here you see that when God works in the wicked and through the
wicked, the result indeed is evil (_mala quidem fieri_), but that
nevertheless God cannot act wickedly, although He works that which is
evil through the wicked; for He being good, cannot Himself act wickedly,
although He uses evil instruments, which cannot escape the impulse and
motion of His power. The fault, therefore, is in the instruments, which
God does not suffer to remain idle, so that evil occurs, God Himself
impelling them, but in no other manner than a carpenter who, using an ax
that i