Westboro Baptist Church’s Hate-Filled Driven Life Doesn’t Represent What Calvinism (or Reformed Theology) is All About

I remembered I stopped reading Hylestic sites in 2011, I started exploring more of John F. MacArthur’s works and figured out he doesn’t teach salvation by works and upholds the eternal security of the believer, and then I decided I would have David W. Cloud’s view. The history of Calvinism (which was a nickname given to emphasize what John Calvin taught) is pretty much blurred. Right now, some people have become way too hostile towards Calvinists. I think it’s because of that hate group known as the Westboro Baptist Church. I have no reason to believe that the late Pastor Fred Phelps Sr. was ever born-again. I believe Phelps Sr. is now screaming in Hell at this very moment. It’s possible to be a Calvinist and not be born again as Phelps Sr.’s’ hatred-filled life proves. Like the late Jack Hyles, it’s safe to assume that Phelps was an unsaved reprobate. Remember Christians are called to hate the sin but only out of love for the sinner.

Severely Misrepresenting the Doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints

I guess one of the biggest challenges of my new Calvinist or Reformed life isn’t much of the Calvinist brethren. I could easily have a private talk with non-Calvinist brethren to discuss what Calvinism is or isn’t. I could go ahead and approach a dear brother-in-Christ who’s been sniping at Calvinism or not understanding what it means. I could easily write a private letter about that. It’s because more often than not, Calvinism is often misunderstood to be the same as hyper-Calvinism. Back then, I wanted to stick to the Fundamental Baptist view (like David W. Cloud) and embrace Calvinists and non-KJV-only brethren. Back when I was KJV-Only, I still felt that I could embrace any non-KJV-only people as brethren if they showed signs of being saved. The same goes for Calvinists. Then I became a Calvinist during the pandemic.

Hyper-Calvinism is Often Confused with Calvinism

As I moved from Fundamentalism to Calvinism, I felt that some Fundamentalists haven’t really done much research into Calvinism. They haven’t done any research finding out about it that the KJV Bible is translated by Calvinist scholars, that Charles H. Spurgeon was a Calvinistic Baptist preacher, and many resources that they’re using are also from Calvinistic scholars. The term Calvinism was just a nickname given to the doctrine summarized as TULIP. These points are T-otal depravity, U-nconditional election, L-imited atonement, I-rresisible Grace, and P-erseverance of the Saints. Spurgeon calls it the Gospel and nothing else.

Understanding What Turn the Other Cheek REALLY Means

More often than not, the Bible is often misread. If one can misread “Judge not and you will not be judged.” without the context, one can severely misunderstand what it means to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39-40). Some people against the death penalty may say, “Isn’t the command of the New Testament to turn the other cheek?” Again, we need to understand the context. The Bible is so full of figures of speech and symbolisms you need to study it to understand it.

The Case of Saturday Worship Service for Christians Required to Work on Sundays

Worship service schedules in Baptist Christian and Protestant Christian churches can differ. Some of them insist that we need a double Sunday service. Meanwhile, some Baptist and Protestant churches have been offering what’s called the Saturday evening service. This isn’t available for all of them. However, some churches have adapted it for this reason–practicality. I don’t recommend attending Saturday services per se to have an entire Sunday free. However, I would recommend having Saturday evening services since some people are required to work on a Sunday.

Does Acts 14:22 Deny Eternal Security?

There’s the saying that the doctrine of eternal security automatically teaches that one has a license to sin. I believe in Once Saved Always Saved but I also heed Scriptural warnings pointing out pieces of evidence concerning false conversions. It would be easy to point out and say, “Acts 14:22 denies eternal security! Gotcha!’ to anybody’s face. However, we need to take things into context than out of context. Does Matthew 24:13 add works to faith in enduring to the end? Does James 2 say that salvation is by faith and works? If so, Romans 11:8 and Ephesians 2:8-9 would be voided. Ephesians 2:10 says good works are the fruit, not the root of salvation. It’s just plain pagan to believe salvation is by one’s own effort.

Of Elisha, Bears, and Some “Little Boys”

This is yet another controversial topic that atheists tend to say God is cruel. How could God allow two she-bears to tear up 42 boys who were mocking a young man with a bald head? Wasn’t that too extreme of punishment and was Elisha too harsh on them? 2 Kings 2 ends with this story from verses 23-25 with what should be viewed as serious disrespect and not mere childish stupidity.