John MacArthur Calls Churches Supporting Gay Marriage 'Satan's Church'

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Thursday, July 17, 2014

Pastor John MacArthur announced during the Shepherd's Conference held earlier this year that next year's conference will include a summit on biblical inerrancy. Photo taken March 7, 2014. | (Photo: Grace Community Church)

John MacArthur, author and pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California recently equated churches that declare support for gay marriage are "Satan's church."

"They have no allegiance to the Bible," said MacArthur, in comments reported by The Blaze earlier this week.

"You go back to every one of those seminaries … for a century [they] have been deniers of biblical authority, they have no relationship to scripture, they are the apostate church, they are Satan's church."

MacArthur also argued that "cultural Christianity" was "dying at a warp speed."

"Institutional churches ebb and flow, denominations ebb and flow. They are made up of true believers and false believers — the genuine and the diluted," said MacArthur."There is a sense in which there's always going to be an ebb and flow in the institutional church."

MacArthur's comments come not long after Presbyterian Church (USA) voted to allow pastors to perform gay marriages in states where it is legal and began the process for amending their Book of Order regarding marriage definition.

At PCUSA's 221st General Assembly, held in Detroit last month, the largest Presbyterian denomination in the nation approved a recommendation to amend the official marriage definition from "a man and a woman" to "two people, traditionally a man and a woman."

To change the Book of Order's language, a majority of PCUSA presbyteries, or regional bodies, must approve the amendment.

"A proposed amendment to change the Constitution to include same-gender marriages in the church's Constitution passed the General Assembly but must be ratified by a majority of the church's 172 regional presbyteries," explained PCUSA in a FAQ document.

"Presbyteries have one year to vote on the proposed amendment. If a majority ratifies the amendment, it would take effect June 21, 2015."

This is not the first time MacArthur has garnered attention for his comments on churches and where their spiritual allegiance may be found.

Last fall, MacArthur had a conference and book released both titled "Strange Fire", which critically examined the Charismatic Movement.

MacArthur argued at the Strange Fire Conference held at Grace Community Church last October that Pentecostal-influenced preachers like Bishop T.D. Jakes and Joel Osteen are advancing a prosperity gospel that is "spirit-centered" when it should be Christ-centered.

"If the Charismatic movement was being produced by the Holy Spirit, the glory of Christ would prevail everywhere," said MacArthur in one morning conference session. "It would be Christ-dominated and everyone in the movement would be bowing the knee to the true Christ in belief of the true Gospel."

Wallace Henley, pastor at Houston's Second Baptist Church, wrote a column for The Christian Post last year calling MacArthur's work a form of "distracting extremism."

"John MacArthur is right that the church in this critical hour cannot risk taking the wrong course regarding the ministry and manifestation of the Holy Spirit. But his position seems to reject the possibility of there being anything good about the charismatic movement," wrote Henley.

"Sound doctrine must not be an immobilizing anchor for the church, but her sturdy, balancing keel midst the upheavals. John MacArthur's extreme 'form' approach is a regrettable distraction from attaining and maintaining the critical equilibrium between form and frenzy."