Recently, the sexual policies of theChildren of God (aka the "Family") have been the subject ofheated public inquiry in many nations. When this happens, the Familytries to counter adverse media exposure by passing outcarefully-worded Statements to reassure their contacts and friendsthat they are legitimate Christians, not some bizarre "sexcult".

When pressed, they sometimes admit that theystill resort to flirty fishing (prostitution to gain members,cash and favour) in special circumstances. What they are particularlybrazen in declaring, however, is that they practise "free sex betweenconsenting adults". Realising that most people would think it strangethat legitimate Christian missionaries would promote fornication,adultery and free love, however, the Family has issued a statemententitled "Law of Love!" to explain their sexual beliefs and totry to convince people that such activities are based on theBible.

For the record, "Law of Love" wascompiled from the writings of the late Father David (David Berg,founder and leader of the Children of God/Family) by Apollos, topcult editor, in 1987. I know because I was living and working withApollos at the time in Berg's compound in Antipolo, north of Manilain the Philippines.)

"Law of Love!" begins innocuouslyenough as a Bible study on the difference between the Mosaic law andgrace, but not far into it you discover that its express purpose isto introduce you to the Family's sexual policies. It attemptsto prove that since Christians are no longer under the Mosaiclaw, that they can therefore fornicate, commit adultery and engage inreligious prostitution so long as they "do it in love".

A key verse quoted is John 1:17 which says,"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by JesusChrist". That is certainly true. But when the New Testament saysthat the Mosaic law is no longer binding, it is referring to theendless purification rituals and animal sacrifices for sin; thesethings have been done away with, now that complete forgivenessis ours through the death of Christ upon the cross! But this doesnot mean, as Berg teaches, that believers can now fornicate aslong as they "do it in love".

Berg claims that all laws against sexualimmorality in the Old Testament were done away with when the era ofgrace was ushered in. He wilfully ignores the fact that fornication,adultery and prostitution are as clearly forbidden in the NewTestament as they were in the Old.

Here are some New Testament Scriptures (byJesus and the Apostles) to prove the point. Please note that Matthew15:19 is Jesus Himself speaking:

"Out of the heart proceed evilthoughts...adulteries, fornications...things whichdefile aman." (Matthew 15:19)

"Marriage is honourable among all, and thebed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge."(Hebrews 13:4.)

"Do you not know that the unrighteous willnot inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neitherfornicators...nor adulterers...will inherit the kingdom of God. Fleesexual immorality! He who commits sexual immorality sins against hisown body." (1Corinthians 6:9,10,18)

"Neither let us commit fornication, as someof them did, and twenty three thousand fell in one day."(1Corinthians 10:8)

"For this is the will of God, yoursanctification: that you should abstain from fornication. forGod did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he whorejects this does not reject man, but God." (1Thessalonians4:1-8)

"But fornication...let it not even benamed among you, as is fitting for saints. For this you know,that no fornicator...has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ andGod. Let no man deceive you with empty words." (Ephesians5:3-6)

The New Testament gives such clear warningsagainst sexual immorality and warns Christians to not be deceived bythose who teach otherwise, that you wonder how anyone could miss thepoint. But Berg does. How? By saying that the Apostles and writers ofthe New Testament were simply fallible, bigoted men giving their ownpersonal opinions, and that he therefore has as much right tohis opinion as they did to theirs. To quote directlyfrom "Law of Love":

"His Word will give you faith [toindulge in free sex]. However, you'll find when reading throughthe New Testament, that even Paul and some of the Apostles still hada few old legalistic hangovers. Some of Paul's writings...bound themwith quite a few Pauline laws."

Do you see what Berg is saying? WhatChristians for two thousand years have believed to be Biblical truthand Scripture, Berg disposes of with one pompous wave of his hand,declaring them "legalistic hangovers" and "Paulinelaws". The bottom line is this: wherever the New Testamentcontradicts Berg's teachings, it is to beignored as outdatedand irrelevant. His utterances are to be believed and obeyed beforethe Bible.

Berg quotes the Bible only when it can beused to prop up his heresies; in "Law of Love!", verses aboutthe saving grace of Christ are seized upon and twisted, thenproclaimed as proof that extramarital sex has now been sanctified byGod. One would logically ask: even if this were so, why has this new"freedom" only been revealednow, when the New Testamenthas clearly declared it to be sin for the past two thousandyears?

Berg claimed he was the greatest prophet ofGod who has ever lived and that he had been sent to proclaim God'snew Word for today. In his mind, therefore, it stood to reasonthat he would receive even greater revelations than thewriters of the Bible. In fact, in Letter number 302C, written March21, 1974, Berg proclaimed that God had now seen fit to trust theCOG/Family with new freedoms which Christians of past ages hadnot been mature enough to handle. He was, of course, referringto free sex.

 The fact of the matter is that Bergdid not teach anything new. In 57 A.D., false teachers were tellingChristians in Corinth, Greece, that they could do whatever theywished--including fornicating or committing adultery or even havingsex with shrine prostitutes of the goddess Venus (Aphrodite)--and Goddidn't mind. They justified this by claiming that since the Mosaiclaw was no longer binding, that now "all things were lawful".(See 1Cor.6:12-18)

Paul had said "all things are lawful"in regard to eating foods formerly considered ritually unclean, butcertain lustful teachers in Corinth were claiming that"all thingslawful"included extramarital sex. Like the Family today,certain Corinthians indulged in fornication and adultery, proud thatthey were the most liberated Christians on earth.

Paul strongly rebuked this heresy,saying, "It is reported that there is sexual immoralityamong you...and you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned. Doyou not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Thereforepurge out the old leaven (of sexual immorality). I havewritten to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, whois a fornicator. Therefore put away from yourselvesthatwicked person." (1Corinthians 5:1-13)

That settled the issue, but fifty yearslater this same heresy reappeared in the city of Thyatira. A falseprophetess--whom Jesus called Jezebel to show how evilshe was--was leading her followers into fornication, claiming thatsuch sin was now pure in God's eyes. Christ Himself sternly rebukedthe Thyatirans, saying: "I have a few things against you,because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess,to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexualimmorality (fornication)". He finished by saying that thisdoctrine was "the depths ofSatan".(Revelation 2:19-24)

To the believers in nearby Pergamos who hadfallen into this sin, Christ warned: "I have a few things againstyou, because you have there those who hold thedoctrine ofBaalim, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before thechildren of Israel...to commit fornication. Repent! Or else Iwill come to you quickly and will fight against them!"(Revelations 2:14-16)

Like the sexually immoral Corinthians andthe false prophetess Jezebel, Berg has declared that God has givennew sexual freedoms to him and the Family are the most liberatedChristians on earth. But their teachings are nothing other than thelicentious doctrine of Baalim. Berg was sometimes an eloquentspeaker, however, and quoted the scriptures to "sanctify" thisheresy, so many people follow his lascivious teachings, thinking thatthey are God's new freedom.

The Bible warns: "But there were alsofalse prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachersamong you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies. And manywill follow their destructive ways. For when they speak greatswelling words of emptiness, they allure [you] through thelusts of the flesh, through licentiousness. Do not bedeceived. Let no man deceive you with emptywords." (2Peter 2:1,2,18; 1Corinthians 6:9,10; Ephesians5:3-6)

Let's make one thing clear: what theBible says about sexual morality is the solid rock oftruth! What Berg and Jezebel said may be "great swellingwords", and sound like new revelations, but they are "words ofemptiness...empty words". Don't be deceived. TheChildren of God/Family who follow Berg's teachings have beenledaway from the teachings of Christ and the Apostles intospiritual darkness, not "new truths".

In "Law of Love!", Berg stated,"we today are having to cast away all of the old legalistictraditions, conventions and holier-than-thou, hypocritical,self-righteousness of the traditional church system of today."But if you read this statement carefully, you will realise that whathe called "old, legalistic traditions" and"hypocritical,self-righteous...conventions" are none other than the teachingsof Christ and the Apostles!

What Berg was really casting away wasnot "legalistic traditions", but the Word of God! Again, as1Thessalonians 4:1-8 says, "Abstain from fornication. He whorejects this [commandment] does not reject man, butGod."

What does this mean? In rejecting theBible's teachings on sexual morality, David Berg and the Family isnot merely rejecting the men who wrote these New Testament passages,but God Himself!

The following warning, written by Jude twothousand years ago, could have been written for Berg personally:"For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who were long ago weremarked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn thegrace of our God into licentiousness(lasciviousness)...who walk according to their own ungodlylusts." (Jude 4,18)

Berg taught that since Christians are now"under grace" that now there is no laws againstfornication or adultery so long as you "do it in love". In "Law ofLove", he made it all sound so pure, so loving, so liberating,but fornication and adultery arenot unselfish love". Berg hadmerely invented a doctrine which permited him to fulfil his ungodlylusts. He claimed that grace has set him free, but in realityhe had "turned the grace of our God intolasciviousness".

In 2Peter 3:16, Peter warns against suchperverters of truth when he talks about the Word "which those whoare untaught and unstable twist to their own destruction, asthey do also the rest of the scriptures". Berg and the Familyare "twisting the scriptures" and certainly are doing it"to their own destruction".

In fact, they are bringing judgment uponthemselves! While they continue to revel in their so-called sexualfreedom, the Family constantly go to doctor's clinics to be treatedfor venereal diseases. Hundreds of them are permanently afflictedwithherpes and some Family members have even died ofAIDS! Yet they refuse to see the handwriting on the wall andrepent of their promiscuity.

Don't be deceived by the Family's "Law ofLove". David Berg was a false prophet and a man given over tolasciviousness. His teachings are heresy. TheBible--notBerg--gives the final word on sexual morality: sex within marriage isGod-ordained and blessed, "but fornicators and adulterers God willjudge." (Hebrews 13:4.)

(C) 1992 by Edward Priebe. "A ChristianResponse to the Family's Law of Love" was compiled and written by EdPriebe, former top editor of the Family.)