Himself. For while the
fact that there are indeed such things as mysteries, unsearchable
judgments, and incomprehensible ways in God is plainly taught in the
Bible, their nature, their how, why, and wherefore, has not been
revealed to us and no amount of human ingenuity is able to supply the
deficiency. Hence, in as far as God is still hidden and veiled, He
cannot serve as a norm by which we are able to regulate our faith and
life. Particularly when considering the question how God is disposed
toward us individually, we must not take refuge in the secret counsels
of God, which reason cannot spy and pry into. According to Luther, all
human speculations concerning the hidden God are mere diabolical
inspirations, bound to lead away from the saving truth of the Gospel
into despair and destruction.

What God, therefore, would have men believe about His attitude toward
them, must according to Luther, be learned from the Gospel alone. The
Bible tells us how God is disposed toward poor sinners, and how He wants
to deal with them. Not His hidden majesty, but His only-begotten Son,
born in Bethlehem, is the divinely appointed object of human
investigation. Christ crucified is God manifest and visible to men.
Whoever has seen Christ has seen God. The Gospel is God's only
revelation to sinful human beings. The Bible, the ministry of the Word,
Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and absolution are the only means of knowing
how God is disposed toward us. To these alone God has directed us. With
these alone men should occupy and concern themselves.

And the Gospel being the Word of God, the knowledge furnished therein is
most reliable. Alarmed sinners may trust in its comforting promises with
firm assurance and unwavering confidence. In _De Servo Arbitrio_ Luther
earnestly warns men not to investigate the hidden God, but to look to
revelation for an answer to the question how God is minded toward them,
and how He intends to deal with them. In his _Commentary on Genesis_ he
refers to this admonition and repeats it, protesting that he is innocent
if any one is misled to take a different course. "I have added" [to the
statements in _De Servo Arbitrio_ concerning necessity and the hidden
God] Luther here declares, "that we must look upon the revealed God.
_Addidi, quod aspiciendus sit Deus revelatus_." (CONC. TRIGL. 898.)

This Bible-revelation, however, by which alone Luther would have men
guided in judging God, plainly teaches both, that grac