For the sake of this shocking story, it is important to clarify first that the Church of Jesus Christ is not a building, or simply an organization that calls itself a church, but it is rather the body of true believers in Christ who do His work on Earth as they eagerly await union with Him.
A truly Christian church is a body of believers who profess faith in Christ and gather together to hear the faithful preaching of His Word, partake in the Lord’s Supper and baptism, and practice for Heaven by praising and worshiping Him together.
The minute such a group of professing believers abandons any core teaching of God’s perfect Word, they cease to be a true church.
St. Paul’s in Malmo, Sweden, however, has gone far beyond simply abandoning the core teaching of God’s perfect Word.
They may call themselves a church, but that is the only way in which they are a church. However, for brevity’s sake, we will refer to them accordingly with the previously discussed distinction already established.
With the installation of a controversial new altarpiece, St. Paul’s has signaled to the world that it has completed its rejection of Scripture and its teachings on human sexuality.
The altarpiece takes the traditional themes of Adam and Eve in Eden and profanes them with a gay “couple,” a lesbian “couple,” and a transgender serpent.
“On Sunday, history is written,” said St. Paul’s pastor Helena Myrstener in a tweet announcing the new altarpiece, translated from Swedish. “Sweden’s only LGBT altarpiece (Elisabeth Ohlsson Wallin) is received in St. Paul’s church in M-island. Of course, it hangs in the choir, next to the “old” altarpiece. We are so happy and proud!”
På söndag skrivs historia. Sveriges enda hbtq-altartavla (Elisabeth Ohlsson Wallin) tas emot i S:t Pauli kyrka i M-ö. Självklart hänger den i koret, bredvid den ”gamla” altartavlan. Vi är så glada o stolta! pic.twitter.com/W5TBkL8osa
— helena myrstener 📎 (@helenamyrstener) November 27, 2019
Russia Today gives context on the sickening “artwork”:
The controversial work of art is not new. Photographer and artist Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin painted it in 2012 and tried to donate it to the Skara Cathedral just before the church was preparing to conduct the first same-sex wedding in its 1,000-year history.
The openly lesbian artist, who has a history of blending religious imagery with pro-minority activism, said at the time that she wanted to test if the Church of Sweden was as gay-friendly as it claimed to be when it embraced same-sex marriage in 2009. The Skara Cathedral politely declined the gift, saying it was about political activism and not faith.
But over seven years have passed, and now Wallin has got her way, even if it isn’t in her home city. St. Paul’s Church in Malmo accepted the painting called “Paradise” as its new altarpiece and unveiled it on Sunday, the first day of Advent.
The irony of a church bearing the name of St. Paul is nearly unbearable. After all, it was this apostle to the Gentiles who wrote in Romans of how “women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” (Romans 1:26-27 ESV)
Paul also wrote to the Corinthians, saying that “neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (I Cor. 6:9-10 ESV)
It seems these “churches” would rather tear out such pages of God’s Word in order to posture themselves as “accepting” in today’s culture. The true Gospel message, however, continues in the very next verse after Paul’s sharp words against those who will not inherit the Kingdom: “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (I Cor. 6:11, ESV, emphasis added) Amen!
As countless ex-homosexual and ex-transgender Christians have testified, there is forgiveness, healing, and restoration in Jesus! But, it requires repentance and faith, which leads to an inward and outward change in the believer. Such an idea—that any sinner needs to change—is too unsavory for these “churches.”
The abandonment of the Gospel itself in favor of radical liberalism serves as the spiritual death knell of any church. It seems that in Europe, once home to great men of God and revivalists of the faith and now home to “churches” that would make ancient pagans proud, that bell never stops ringing.
This is the same “church” that, earlier this year, declared teenage celebrity climate alarmist Greta Thunberg as a “successor to Jesus,” by the way. So we’ve already witnessed how tangential their interests are to the actual ministry of Christ and His followers.
Is it any wonder that the Church of Sweden, like many ultra-liberal “churches,” are hemorrhaging members every single year? Surely the Lord will not bless such a “church” that so eagerly abandons His Word.
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