Los Angeles pastor John MacArthur publicly berates Gavin Newsom for his ‘evil’ policies, invoking Jesus

A prominent Los Angeles Christian pastor released an open letter on Thursday chastising California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom for his recent multistate billboard campaign that promoted abortion with a quote from Jesus.

Pastor John MacArthur, 83, who is senior pastor of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, also accused the governor of presenting a worldview whose “evil effects” have effectively wrecked the state, leading to ” epidemics of crime, homelessness, sexual perversions (such as homosexuality and transgenderism), and other malign expressions of human misery that stem directly from corrupt public policy.”

Newsom was outraged earlier this month by Christians who took offense when his gubernatorial campaign erected billboards in states where abortion is banned or restricted, urging women in those states to come to California to abort their babies.

Some versions of billboards advertised readily available abortions in California by quoting Mark 12:31, where Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these.” Some clergy and other Christians have criticized Newsom for including Jesus in his pro-abortion billboards, calling them “disgusting”, “satanic” and “one of the [worst] distortions of a Bible passage that I have ever seen.”

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“In mid-September, you revealed to the entire nation how rebellious you are against God when you sponsored billboards across America promoting the child slaughter he creates in womb,” MacArthur wrote.

“You have further compounded the wickedness of this murderous campaign with a wrongful act of gross blasphemy, quoting the very words of Jesus in Mark 12:31 as if you could somehow distort its meaning and arrogate its meaning to yourself. name in support of the slaughter of unborn children,” the pastor continued.

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“Furthermore, you chose words from the mouth of Jesus without admitting that at the same time he gave the greatest commandment: ‘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. You can’t love God as he commands while aiding in the murder of his image bearers,” MacArthur said.

MacArthur went on to express concern that “Newsom’s soul is in grave and eternal peril” for “twisting” the words of the Bible, and that he will one day be called to account before God for his actions as governor.

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“Our church and countless Christians across the country are praying for your full repentance. Please respond to the gospel, let go of the path of wickedness you have pursued all your life, turn to Christ, ask for forgiveness and use your office to advance the cause of justice (as is your duty) instead of undermining it (as has been your role model),” MacArthur warned.

Newsom’s campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment at press time.

MacArthur and his church made headlines in 2021 when they won a $800,000 settlement after falling out with state and county authorities for continuing to gather in defiance of government COVID-19 protocols restricting places of worship.

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Citing Jesus and the Bible as the ultimate authority over his congregation, MacArthur wrote in a lengthy blog post in July 2020 that “we cannot and will not accept a government-imposed moratorium on our weekly congregational worship or other regular corporate gatherings. Compliance would be disobeying the clear commandments of our Lord.”