On Thursday (Sept. 29), Grace Community Church Senior Pastor John MacArthur shared an open letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom pleading with him to repent and make Jesus Christ his Lord and Savior in light of Newsom’s billboards supporting abortion.
MacArthur’s letter, which was addressed to Newsom’s office in Sacramento, California, tells the governor that he has failed in his responsibility as a civic leader.
“Almighty God says in His Word, ‘Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people’ (Proverbs 14:3). Scripture also teaches that it is the chief duty of any civic leader to reward those who do well and to punish evildoers (Romans 13:1–7),” The 83-year-old pastor wrote. “You have not only failed in that responsibility; you routinely turn it on its head, rewarding evildoers and punishing the righteous.”
“The Word of God pronounces judgment on those who call evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20), and yet many of your policies reflect this unholy, upside-down view of honor and morality,” MacArthur continued. “The diabolical effects of your worldview are evident in the statistics of California’s epidemics of crime, homelessness, sexual perversions (like homosexuality and transgenderism), and other malignant expressions of human misery that stem directly from corrupt public policy.”
“I don’t need to itemize or elaborate on the many immoral decisions you have perpetrated against God and the people of our state, which have only exacerbated these problems. Nevertheless, my goal in writing is not to contend with your politics, but rather to plead with you to hear and heed what the Word of God says to men in your position,” the pastor pleaded, writing out Psalm 72:11, 2 Samuel 23:3–4, and Proverbs 16:12.
MacArthur told Newsom that he should take what God told Cyrus in Isaiah 45 to heart, a passage in which God proclaims there is no other God but Himself.
MacArthur called Newsom’s recent pro-abortion billboards, which Newsom launched in seven pro-life states across the nation earlier this month, a rebellion against God, saying, “You revealed to the entire nation how thoroughly rebellious against God you are when you sponsored billboards across America promoting the slaughter of children, whom He creates in the womb.”
“You further compounded the wickedness of that murderous campaign with a reprehensible act of gross blasphemy, quoting the very words of Jesus from Mark 12:31 as if you could somehow twist His meaning and arrogate His name in favor of butchering unborn infants,” MacArthur said. “You used the name and the words of Christ to promote the credo of Molech (Leviticus 20:1–5). It would be hard to imagine a greater sacrilege.”
RELATED: MacArthur: State Does Not, Should Not Have the Authority to Close Churches
Newsom chose to use Jesus’ words while deliberately omitting the first part of the commandment, which Mark 12:30 records: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,” MacArthur explained.
