Speaker Mike Johnson Fought to Prevent A Ban On Abortion To Protect His Career

• Johnson played a key role in allowing abortion to go on unchecked and convinced others to do the same.
• Mike Johnson threatened…there will be consequences if you continue to push the bill.
• Johnson and the Pro-Life movement are unmotivated to ban abortion if it interferes with political alliances.
• Johnson is like the rest of the swamp, controlled by lobbyists and power brokers.

By Brad Ward, Director, Armor of Truth

MIKE JOHNSON IS NOT WHO HE SEEMS TO BE

Never before in the history of American Government has The Speaker of The House, who oversees the business of making laws and sits second in line to the Presidency, been removed from his post. Louisiana Congressman Mike Johnson was installed as Speaker last month after a faction within the Republican party orchestrated a coup to remove California Republican Kevin McCarthy. Many Conservatives in America are praising Johnson for his “biblical worldview” and see his Bible-based rhetoric as a breath of fresh air in a culture and government where wokeness has finally grown stale. 

Is this a signal of a return to biblical Christian ethics and standards in America? Or is there a fly in the ointment? 

Mike Johnson is a professing Christian, Southern Baptist by denomination, who has publicly affirmed the traditions and confessions of the Reformers. He has made surprising and refreshing statements such as, 

“Biblical morality was washed away with the counterculture in the 1960s.”¹

“One of the primary purposes of the law in civil government is to restrain evil. We have to acknowledge collectively that man is inherently evil and needs to be restrained.”² 

“[Abortion] is truly an American holocaust…Planned Parenthood set up their clinics in inner cities. They regard these people as easy prey. I mean, it’s true.”³

To Christian ears, this is a sweet sound coming from the halls of government for a change. Johnson is certainly educated in the faith and has demonstrated that he knows the difference between sound doctrine and error. He knows what idolatry is and clearly understands God’s design for government, which makes his more recent moves perplexing. 

While Johnson speaks a strong fundamental game, his behind-the-scenes actions reveal disturbing inconsistencies. 

HB (House Bill) 813 was the bill to provide equal protection in the State of Louisiana. Pastors Jeff Durbin and Brian Gunter worked on the bill for months with experts and legislators to ensure it was legally sound, and written in a way that representatives, and Pro-Life activists would support. The bill passed the hearing stage and made it to the floor for a final vote. It was a historic moment. But at the eleventh hour, the bill was killed. It will be a surprise to many that it was leaders in the Pro-life movement, many of whom had supported the bill for months, who killed the bill. 

As Pastor Brain Gunter states in the video linked below, 

“[Mike Johnson] was the single most influential person who killed HB 813 in Louisiana. He, more than anyone else, is responsible for the fact that abortion was not abolished in Louisiana, and therefore [more] babies are dying now in Louisiana than before Roe v. Wade was overturned. Mike [Johnson] could have helped us put a stop to that. Instead, he fought to prevent the abolition of abortion in Louisiana, that’s the truth. For years I considered him a friend and worked with him, but he’s wrong on this⁶.” 

WATCH: AoT Live: 276 Mike Johnson Turns Pro-Choice: Lying Leaders Loyal To Lobbies⁵ https://www.youtube.com/live/ZajqpFys_NQ?si=4udJuS4RrexWxnmR 

One of the men most responsible for the demise of equal protection in Louisiana was the new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. 

Equal protection is a legal concept that says everyone has a right to life, and that we are responsible for advocating for the rights of those who cannot advocate for themselves. In other words, a preborn baby has the same right to life as a legal person under the law. Therefore, ending the life of a preborn baby by “elective termination” is murder and the law requires justice for it. Likewise, equal protection seeks to hold accountable the mothers who choose and the doctors who perform “elective termination.”   

Pastor Gunter explains that on the day the bill was killed, Mike Johnson warned in a phone call that there would be consequences for anyone who continued to press the issue. Johnson had issued his longtime friend and Christian brother a veiled threat, but the implication was clear. Mike Johnson fully intended to communicate to Pastor Gunter and his colleagues that they would pay a heavy cost if they continued to push this bill. Mike Johnson warned Pastor Gunter specifically that his ministry would be harmed if he disobeyed the order. That probably meant that a coordinated effort or smear campaign would be run to turn supporters away from Pastor Gunter’s ministry.

Johnson’s own sudden reversal to oppose the bill he once championed and the harsh treatment of his longtime friend and colleague revealed something more. Mike Johnson is not clean. He, like the rest of the swamp, is controlled by men and money who place political alliances, personal aspirations, and their positions of authority above the law of God, and above the common good. 

“You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live…” (Deuteronomy 16:19-20).

Does Mike Johnson really believe the words he speaks publicly? Does he stand with God against evil? The evidence shows that Mike Johnson will compromise on essential doctrines of Christianity and obscure the truth when it is politically or personally expedient. Johnson apparently does not believe that a fetus, or a preborn baby, is a human being worthy of equal protection. In fact, it has come to light in this case that the Pro-Life movement as a whole does the same thing. After all, it was the Pro-Life movement, with Mike Johnson running the point, that shut down the Louisiana bill that would have ended abortion on demand and secured the rights of preborn children in Louisiana. That is a fact. It must be widely shared. Speaker of The House Mike Johnson and the Pro-Life movement are unmotivated to end abortion on demand when it interferes with their political aspirations and personal goals.

Pastor Gunter said, 

“Despite whatever he might say about consequences to my career…there is a God in heaven who requires Justice for these children and no man should be able to tell us that that we should disobey what scripture so plainly requires because it’ll help more Republicans stay in power. What good are Republicans if once they’re in power, they get there, and they’re not going to do the very thing that they told their donors, voters, and Pro-Life supporters that they were going to do, which is to fight to end abortion and to give justice to these preborn children. If they’re not actually going to do what they say they’re going to do when they run for office then why should they remain in office? No. I want them to do the right thing, to give Justice to these children…and leave the results in the hands of God.”

HE KNOWS BETTER 

Vain ideas and expressions about God are common in American culture. Everyone has idols, and the Christian is not immune. It’s the most common sin we share. In one sense, idolatry can be described as vanity, placing ultimate faith or confidence in oneself. In another sense, idolatry is the denial of God, especially when it would be inconvenient or damaging to one’s status or reputation within the world system, or in this case, within the American corporate lobbyist governmental complex. 

When an elected official willfully obscures the truth of God’s word to preserve his reputation, he commits the sin of idolatry by placing his reputation above Christ’s. Mike Johnson has demonstrated that he knows this. 

“Therefore, to one who knows to do the right thing and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).

There are many ways to deny God: the proud deny His power; unbelievers deny His providence; liars deny His truth; the unrepentant deny His justice and wrath. We deny God before the world when we profess to know Him but then deny Him in our actions. Every Christian has opportunities to stand with God against evil simply in the way we live our lives, how we treat others, and what we tolerate or support. American culture today exemplifies rebellion in its valuation of personal freedom and expressive individualism⁴ as the highest good and its denigration of God’s word and law as oppressive. 

An official in the American government has uniquely grand opportunities to stand with God and champion truth. But when he shrinks from the opportunity by obscuring God’s truth behind expedient political rhetoric or delays justice when he has it to give, he openly denies God by seeking first the glory of man.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

There must be justice when any human being has been murdered. God’s law requires it and Scripture commands those in positions of authority who have the power, must give justice fairly and it should not be delayed.

“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.” (Proverbs 3:27).

Scripture has shown us what is good and righteous and what the Lord requires of us.

“To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

“Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow” (Isaiah 1:17).

Anyone can make a profession of faith, but a profession is made true or false by the fruits it produces. Faith is expressed not in words spoken, but in deeds; not in tongue, but in heart; not in opinion, but in life. The duty of the humble believer is to observe the precepts of Christ and copy his example: to do justice, to love mercy, to beware of covetousness, and to be ready for every good work. 

“To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice” (Proverbs 21:3).

Sanctification is an exercise in discernment, to love God with all our hearts and minds, to think and discern truth from error, and to war against vain thoughts about God. Stand with Christ against evil is to declare war on your culture’s favorite idols. 

CALL TO ACTION: TAKE UP YOUR CROSS

Over the years, Christianity in America has become more American than Christian. The true Christian faith is declining in America. We’re not winning our own culture. But our goal is not to change America. Only the sovereign Creator and Sustainer can do that. God will use America for His purposes: 

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

America could see a revival of the pure Christian faith or continue to erode and drift further into confusion. Only God knows. But, instead of shaking our fists at the world, we need to address the deep spiritual needs of the world and the church and show people the reason for our hope, peace, and strength: The true Jesus Christ. That’s what being a “living sacrifice” is all about (Romans 12:2). 

Our prayer is that the exposure of Mike Johnson’s behind-the-scenes deeds and the dealings of the Pro-Life movement to stop abortion legislation in Louisiana will serve to hold them accountable and call them to repentance, and to motivate everyone to be consistent, honorable, and to stand with Christ even when it is inconvenient or personally costly. 

The truth of the matter is this: at worst, Mike Johnson isn’t really who he claims to be, at best, he is a Christian who stumbled when he realized the true cost of standing with Christ against an evil generation.  

“What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:36-38).

A young and wealthy ruler met Christ one day, and he asked the Lord, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” The ruler reported to Jesus that he had always kept the commandments from the time of his youth. Jesus responded to the ruler, saying, “There is one thing you still don’t have. Leave behind your possessions, give them to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow Me.” For the young rich ruler, the cost was too high, the sacrifice too heavy because he loved his massive wealth and power more than anything, even life itself. The rich young ruler was an idolator, much like the political officials of our day. 

Jesus said to the ruler, “How hard it is for wealthy people to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” taking full advantage of the opportunity to teach his disciples, Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more at this time and in the age to come, eternal life” (Luke 18:18-30). 

Sadly, Mike Johnson played a key role in allowing abortion to go on unchecked and convinced others to do the same. 

THE CITY OF MAN OR THE CITY OF GOD

When Jesus began His ministry, the people were in darkness, in the shadow of death, but light has come into the world, a new day has dawned, and Jesus preached to them, 

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:16-17).

There are two kingdoms: the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of Antichrist; as Augustine wrote, the City of God and the City of Man. The ruler of the City of Man is the same one who led the rebellion against God’s command in Genesis 9:1 to “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” It was the spirit of Antichrist who said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city and a tower that reaches into heaven, and let us make a name for ourselves” (Genesis 11). He is the enemy of humanity, standing in opposition to the truth, and he is a murderer and the father of lies. 

You will know them by their fruits. Rather than build up, they destroy. Rather than bring life, they bring death. The citizens and soldiers of the City of Man carry out the desires of their master: steal, kill, destroy, and obscure the truth with lies, and a false sense of justice. The heart of every person wants God’s glory, just like Lucifer.

But, the Ruler of the City of God is King Jesus the Merciful. He lives, He is Lord, and King Jesus invites the citizens and soldiers of The City of Man, even the enemies of God from the kingdom of antichrist who have denied, blasphemed, and committed high treason against God, to come into His kingdom to find rest and receive a full pardon. 

The leaders in Judea wanted to kill Jesus. But, on the last day of the Feast of Booths, when the city was at its busiest, with the religious leaders and many of the citizens wanting Him dead, Jesus went out into the streets and called out to the crowds, 

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37). 

Jesus offers those who repent and follow Him, the gift of God; to be cleansed of their sins and receive a full pardon from the eternal and just wrath of God. But that’s not all! Jesus also offers, even to His enemies, an inheritance of everlasting life, to rest in Christ forever, and to be sons of God. He is a king worthy of devotion, a Savior worthy of worship. Jesus Christ is worthy of whatever the cost: status, power, wealth, comfort, and even persecution. The truth of salvation in Christ alone is worth dying for, as has been required of some. In the words of Martin Luther’s great hymn, A Mighty Fortress,

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,

we will not fear, for God has willed his truth to triumph through us.

Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;

the body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still; his kingdom is forever!⁷

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