In the past few days, there has been much said about the statements Green Bay Packer Reggie White made to the Wisconsin assembly last Wednesday. He condemned homosexuality and commended several ethnic groups on their supposed “blessings” as a people. Though I, myself, am a Christian and share White’s determination to stand up for biblical teaching, I’m not here to endorse or refute White’s statements. Rather, what is concerning me is the apparent inconsistency the media covering this story have shown by their remarks.

I find it hard to believe that those who’ve been vehemently promoting the practice of tolerance in this country have not hesitated in blasting White for expressing his strongly-held beliefs. It’s nothing short of hypocrisy to say, on the one hand, “All views should be respected and treated equally well,” and on the other, “…well, all views except your Christianity, Reggie.”

Remember, Reggie White does not hold the view that “every opinion and preference is right.” He believes in a God that sets rules. Any deviation from these rules White believes to be a sin and is wrong. This is his view. He believes it, so he endorses it. Any logical human being will endorse what he believes to be true.

The tolerance-mongers in the media and in our society, instead of practicing their precious tolerance have said, “You can’t have those views!” For the sake of consistency, I thought their reaction would be, “Well, I don’t agree with you, but that’s OK. Both our views are equally valid.”

The bottom line is: Reggie White practices what he preaches, and the liberal media do not. To me, the only real villain in this story is the hypocrite.

I also wanted to remark specifically on his ethnic “commendations.” Reggie White expressed what he thought were blessings God has bestowed on particular races. He singled out specifics (i.e. Whites are good at organization, Blacks at worship and celebration, Hispanics at family life, Native Americans at spirituality, and Asians at innovation and creativity). When I was listening to this portion of his speech, I couldn’t help but be reminded of all the ethnic celebrations we hold here at GMU.

We have Black History Month, Asian Awareness Week, International Week, and many other celebrations designed to identify and celebrate particular accomplishments, beliefs, and lifestyles of the many different ethnic groups that make up our university. When we watch the International Fashion Show, for instance, we don’t object, “That’s stereotypical! Not all (fill in ethnic group here) dress like that!” Rather, we celebrate our differences and take pride in the fact that “our race” has its own history and list of accomplishments. Differences in abilities and cultures is a good thing. Otherwise, what’s the point in making ethnic distinctions? There are distinctions, so why ignore them? I, for one, would hate it if everybody was exactly like me (what a boring world that would be!).

But whether you take pride in your differences or wish everybody was exactly the same, or whether you think all views are equal or believe your view to be the only correct one, what our society should promote and commend is the consistency between your beliefs and your actions. If you believe one way, be consistent with your belief. If you don’t have integrity, you don’t even have an argument and no one will ever listen to you.

Regardless of my shared religion with Reggie White, I totally respect him for not compromising on what he believes to be true. Integrity is truly a great thing.

The debate over justification by faith alone was the benchmark of the Reformation. The doctrine itself was said by Martin Luther to be “the article with and by which the church stands, without which it falls” (articulus stantis et cadentis ecclesiae). No single declaration was more prominent and more central to the Protestant movement than the declaration “sola fide!” (or faith alone). The validity of such a doctrine had major implications for the Roman Catholic Church, which stood to lose much in the way of funds and reputation.

When the reformers declared “sola fide,” they were directly opposing the Roman Catholic Church’s teachings on venial & mortal sins, priestly absolution, penance, and indulgences. While the reformers said that justification was gain by faith in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, alone, and that the works of a man had no bearing on his justification, Rome taught that justification was gained when one possessed a faith “made perfect in love,” or a faith that was accompanied by “works.” Rome also believed that a person could lose his justification when he committed “mortal sins.” To regain justification, he had to confess to a priest, receive absolution, then commit acts of penance to regain favor with God.

In efforts to raise funds, Rome also sold indulgences (or stored-up merit from overly-righteous saints and leaders in the church) to those who felt they needed more righteousness to gain justification. Rome eventually marketed the indulgences as righteousness the people could buy for dead loved ones—in case they needed some extra righteousness to get out of purgatory. Johann Tetzel (a peddler of indulgences) claimed, “Every time a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs!” All of these acts (indulgences, penance, absolution, confession) were seen by the reformers as “works,” and were rejected as adding anything to justification. As Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Though the reformers declared that works did not contribute to justification, they believed that true faith always resulted in good works. In other words, works did not help justify a man, rather they were necessary results of his justification and faith. As James 2:17 states, “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” The equation would thus look like this for the reformer:

And the Roman Catholic view would be diagrammed like this:

The placement of “Works” in these equations meant the difference between two entirely different systems of Theology. It was on this issue in the 16th century that the church was split and hundreds of Christians lost their lives, standing up for what they believed to be the true, biblical doctrine of justification.

The doctrine of Sola Gratia (or Grace Alone) requires one to think in legal terms. Grace is, by definition, unmerited favor. In this case, it is unmerited favor given to a trespasser of God’s Law. Mankind is the trespasser and God gives a part of mankind salvation, freely as a gift of grace, rather than the punishment due them, namely death.

The number one ingredient in the reformer’s declaration of Sola Gratia! is this fact that no one deserves God’s salvation—that all men have sinned, and have thus warranted eternal damnation. The most frequent objection to Reformation Theology (or Calvinism) is, “That’s not fair!” People believe that, if God shows mercy to some individuals and saves them, He should show that same mercy (or grace) to everyone—that it would be unfair of Him not to.

Here’s where the definition of grace is so important. Grace is unmerited favor. That means God is not required to bestow grace on anyone. When objections are made, such as “God should bestow grace on everyone, if anyone,” we’re no longer talking about grace. God doesn’t treat everyone equally, but that doesn’t mean He treats anyone unfairly. To some, He bestows grace, and to others, He bestows justice. In all cases, He is never unjust. Even the sins of those He gives grace to are paid by Jesus Christ’s death. So there is absolutely no room to ever call God unjust. All sin is punished with death. It is grace, however, that God has His Son pay for the sins of some.

Another ingredient to Sola Gratia is the declaration that it is only by grace that someone can come to the Father. There is no righteousness or goodness inherent in anyone that leads them to the Father. Without grace, everyone would hate God and shun Him. This doctrine humbles a man, and leaves no room for pride or self-satisfaction in one’s own salvation. John Calvin puts it this way in his Institutes of Christian Religion: “God’s grace is illustrated by the fact that he does not give away salvation indiscriminately, but gives to some what he denies to others. Ignorance of this great truth detracts from God’s glory and prevents true humility (XII.1).”

It is this emphatic declaration of Sola Gratia! that reiterates what Paul says in the book of Ephesians and Romans: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (2:8,9). So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace (11:5,6).”