Whose nails matter most to Justification?
“Martin Luther may not have had any nails in his hands, but he didn’t need them.”
When we talk about the Doctrine of Justification, many imaginations drift to the image of Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to the Wittenberg Church Castle doors in 1517. It’s a pretty powerful image: the man, filled with righteous anger, marching up the cobbled streets, hammer in one hand, these pages under his other arm, nails in his mouth (like any good DIYer) – all to give the Catholic Church a piece of his mind and to herald a seismic shift in theology: Justification by Faith Alone!
Except that he didn’t. Well, not exactly.
Recently, all the evidence has pointed to two problems with the above lore.
First, the 95 theses make no mention of Justification by Faith Alone. Luther definitely did champion this scriptural truth, but not in his 1517 theses.
Secondly, he more than likely glued* those theses’ pages to the church doors. Paints a different picture, doesn’t it: Luther, with the theses under his arm, walking carefully so as not to spill the jar of glue he was holding. And no triumphant hammering of the nails. Instead, Marty was just struggling not to get the corners of the pages stuck to his fingers.
*Turns out that in the 1500s, nails were extremely expensive – we’re talking iPhone price-tags – and made individually to small orders by blacksmiths.
The hammer-nail fable only appeared 100+ years after the event, probably to give it a bit more umph. But the truth is, Luther’s story needed no help. About a year later, after wall-papering the church, on April 26, 1518, historians agree that Protestantism began. Forrest Strickland says, “On that date, Luther presented the Heidelberg Disputation, in which he wrote,
He is not righteous who does much, but he who, without work, believes much in Christ. For the righteousness of God is not acquired by means of acts frequently repeated, as Aristotle taught, but it is imparted by faith… The law says, “do this,” and it is never done. Grace says, “believe in this,” and
everything is already done.
Just read that last line again: The law says, “do this,” and it is never done. GRACE says, “believe in this,” and everything is already done.
How incredible! Luther’s aim here wasn’t to deface the doors of a church, but to throw wide open the gates of heaven to all who, until then, thought they had to be unlocked through good works. Romans 1:17 is known as Luther’s Gateway because in it he saw that putting our faith in the gift of Christ and His sacrifice meant one thing: the work was already done (John 19:30)!
Luther may not have had any nails in his hands, but he didn’t need them. Because the Spirit revealed to him that the only nails that mattered, the only nails that could
make any difference in our eternal story, were those used to pin our Saviour to the cross in our stead. This is Justification: that Christ took on Himself the punishment of sin that was rightly ours to give to us the perfection that is rightly His (Ephesians 2:8).
Justification shouldn’t be avoided as some highfalutin, dusty theological term. It should be embraced and marvelled over as Christ’s glorious work. One we pray a prayer of deep, deep thanks to Him for.
Oh Lord, God of truth, Who to know is everlasting life, and to serve is perfect freedom, grant that we may draw near to you in thought, word, and deed – not as works to earn salvation, but as worship spilled over because You’ve made us righteous in Your sight. Amen.
Blog written by Jared Osmond (Jared and his wife Keshia are key leaders in our Life Changers church story)