This week, Justin Welby surrendered to widespread calls for him to resign over his part in the failure to expose abuse within the Church of England (CofE).

While this failure was a grievous undoing, there were many other high-ranking clerics who failed the victims of the appalling John Smyth – who was a twisted con man and violent molester of boys.

The truth is that within the structure of the Church of England, there are a whole raft of unaccountable structures and methods that obfuscate and deceive. All too often the good men are punished and forced out.

The Makin Review makes for sickening reading when we see how the 'elites' thought they could deal with it. I've spoken this week to Su, a victim of child abuse at the hands of a C of E priest. It took her thirty years to tell the story because it was brushed under the carpet and not dealt with at the time. Now, she speaks movingly of how the Archbishop of Canterbury and the system have done a huge disservice to the gospel by not confronting the sin; by not bringing it into the light. Justice is done in the light. Su talks about how she has been healed and made whole by Jesus, Saviour of the World.

As the Church sought to cover up its sin, so the gospel light goes out. The true gospel, true lovers of Christ cannot stand the deeds of darkness.

Smyth was one of Welby's first private tests

Justin Welby became Archbishop of Canterbury in 2013. The Smyth issue was one of his first private tests. He failed.

With the publishing of the long-overdue Makin Review, the horrific child abuse perpetrated by John Smyth over decades of involvement in Christian ministry, both in the UK and Zimbabwe, was fully exposed.

Archbishop Justin Welby was complicit in failing to expose Smyth's crimes and knew definitively about the abuse in 2013 – if not well before – yet did not address them until the story broke into the public arena in 2017.

He failed to speak up. He failed to pursue justice for the victims. By failing to speak up Justin Welby, with others in the system, permitted Smyth to live out his final years without ever being brought to justice.

The first public test

Significantly, Justin Welby failed another huge test early in his tenure. It was the year when Parliament was voting to introduce same sex-marriage. The first big public test was to declare to a watching nation and parliament that Christians believe that marriage is the life-long union of one man and one woman.

In May 2013 at the Second Reading of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill in the House of Lords he said:

"It is clearly essential that stable and faithful same-sex relationships should, where those involved want it, be recognised and supported with as much dignity and the same legal effect as marriage."

And this was the start of a long, painful process of his abandonment of church doctrine and attempted destruction of the biblical meaning of marriage. Rather than highlight the uniqueness of real, man-woman marriage, he presented man-man and woman-woman partnerships as being equal in dignity.

Under his watch, much of the church has abandoned biblical CofE teaching, church leaders have departed from a biblical definition of marriage, and the church has bowed to transgender and homosexual ideology.

He repeatedly broke his ordination vows as with detailed precision he led the church seriously astray. The responsibility falls squarely on his shoulders.

Persistent denial of official church doctrine on marriage

Welby's recent appearance on the 'The Rest Is Politics' podcast, where he blatantly condoned same-sex intimacy and sexual intimacy outside of marriage, exposed the extent of his denial of CofE teaching. By aligning himself with an ideology that is so drastically at enmity with God's revealed pattern for life and sexuality, Welby openly aligned himself in opposition to the God he was ordained to serve.

Marriage is a symbolic representation of the most sacred relationship of all, that between Christ and his Church. By rejecting God's design for marriage, Justin Welby rejected God's authority over creation and he also rejected the character of God.

If God's design for marriage is no longer 'good', then God cannot be good. If God's definition of marriage is 'offensive', and 'homophobic', then God is no longer a wise and kind Creator and Saviour but an authoritarian and malicious dictator.

If God's pattern for holiness and purity in relationships (by keeping sexual intimacy within the confines of a loving, stable marriage) is no longer applicable to our modern society, then it must follow that God, and his revealed word, are no longer relevant for today.

The Archbishop of Canterbury not only rejected biblical marriage; he rejected Christ. Therefore, even before the publication of the Makin Review, Welby disqualified himself from holding such a position of power within the bride of Christ, the Church.

Why did he resign – and why should he have?

The archbishop's stated reasons for resigning are clear – it is over the failings highlighted in the Makin Review. This would alone have been enough to make his leadership untenable and for him to resign.

But he did not resign directly because of the Makin Review – he said as much in a statement last week. He resigned because the pressure from a liberal, secular world which he for so long had sought approval in demanded that he did. Does anyone doubt that, were it not for liberal Christians such as the Bishop of Newcastle, and secular media outlets, the archbishop would have continued in his role?

His abandonment of the Christian teaching on sex and marriage ought to have been enough for his resignation. Along with the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, he could no longer seriously claim to be upholding the Church's (or Jesus') teaching. His status as 'first among equals' in the Anglican Communion was in jeopardy.

He had no intention to resign over this. Presumably, he even believed he was doing the right thing.

The many victims of abandoning God's pattern for sex, gender and marriage

It may seem as if this is a dry debate over doctrine. But the teaching of the Church has many far-reaching consequences. It is not a victimless failing.

Failing to speak clearly to culture about marriage, sex and gender has given groups like Stonewall and Mermaids a free hand to promote transgender ideology. This has led to the mutilation of young people's otherwise-healthy bodies, with lifelong consequences. When Rev John Parker highlighted this problem at a Church of England primary school back in 2019, he received no support from the Church, with now-Archbishop Stephen Cottrell particularly unhelpful. He wrote an Ad Clerum making clear he fully supported the school's actions when inviting Mermaids to promote transgender ideology in the school.

Justin Welby commissioned Valuing All God's Children (VAGC) in response to a Stonewall report. The 2017 edition of VAGC was explicitly trans-affirming and thanked two senior members of Stonewall staff for their help with the document. This document spread policies across thousands of CofE schools across the country that led to very young children being affirmed in a false gender identity.

And yet Welby openly condoned teaching children an ideology that is in blatant opposition to biblical teaching. His actions have caused children to stumble, and he and others in the Church must be held to account.

More than that, this guidance was also used many times in legal cases to discredit faithful Christians, like Rev Bernard Randall, the Rowes and 'Hannah'.

This failure to speak clearly and truthfully about God's pattern for sexuality has for years been used to discredit faithful Christians in legal proceedings. People have lost jobs and livelihoods because employers have been able to pigeonhole faithful Christians as out of step with the established Church.

Most tragically of all, this failure has led Christians astray from the truth and away from Christ. Under Welby's watch, many Christians have been led to believe that their sexual sin has God's approval. The Bible is very clear that those living unrepentantly in serious sexual sin "will not inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor 6:9). For these people, Welby's leadership may have fatal, eternal consequences.

Jesus said that "If anyone causes one of these little ones--those who believe in me--to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea" (Matt 18:6).

Reputation, reputation, reputation

The desire for preserving reputation was disastrous in the Church's handling of John Smyth. It was primarily people who stand by the Christian teaching of marriage and sexuality who failed to address Smyth's abuse. Their reputation has taken a hammering because of this widespread failure. There is Biblical justice in this, even though I deeply lament how it has led to the slander of God's pattern for men and women. We must do so much better.

Did Welby's awareness of these failings among Conservative Evangelicals accelerate his apostasy on marriage? But the Church and its bishops are called to bring the truth of Scripture to bear on our society and culture, not to be influenced and controlled by what is expedient. In a culture that rejects the Lord Jesus Christ and widely abhors the teaching of Christianity, this means we should expect more opprobrium than honour.

Justin Welby's efforts to adapt to our society's rejection of truth has brought the CofE perilously close to doctrinal collapse and the complete departure from the God of the Bible.

Even in his response to the Makin Review, Welby seems to have been forced out more than having repentantly acknowledged his shortcomings. And Stephen Cottrell is doing tone-deaf media rounds brazenly trying to preserve reputation rather than weep in repentance as should be his wont.

Welby should have resigned years ago, not only for his failure to expose abuse, but for his rejection of the foundational truths of Scripture, his blatant apostasy, and his attempted subversion of the CofE. Cottrell should join him.

Jesus said that "by their fruit you will recognise them" (Matt 7:15-20) and Welby's fruit is withered.

He will be called to give account for his actions before God on Judgement Day, and as a leader in the Church, he will be judged even more strictly (James 3:1). I pray he repents and places his faith in Christ before that day.

However, Justin Welby is not the only false teacher in the CofE. How many bishops have spoken up clearly? My fear is that his replacement will be even more dogmatically dedicated to the destruction of truth and the introduction of more anti-Christ and anti-gospel ideology.

The future of the CofE looks grim. The flock of Christ is being overrun by fierce wolves. We must pray that God shows our nation immense grace by placing leaders in the Church who will restore the CofE's reliance on Scripture and by the power of the Holy Spirit lead the Church back to the true gospel. God alone brings the dead to life.

Andrea Williams is CEO of Christian Concern.