The virgin birth of Jesus
A series about critical doctrines you must not deny or change
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (Matt. 1:23 ESV)
Over the past few days
I’ve been discussing doctrinal errors held by the many Progressive Churches around the world who have redefined many church doctrines to reflect their new unbiblical beliefs. Of course, any church, group, or person, who does this is promoting the doctrines of demons!
In the progressive church, the virgin birth and other miraculous occurrences are minimized, disregarded, or, like the resurrection, viewed as less significant than the lessons we may draw from them. But the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus’ mother was a virgin and Jesus’ birth was miraculous. And this is vital to understand.
Why the virgin birth matters
Those who deny the virgin birth contradict the clear teaching of Scripture, call into question other miracles recorded in the Bible, and open the door to a denial of Christ’s full deity or His full humanity.
This notion is not new
Jesus’ enemies among His contemporaries denied His virgin birth. They went so far as to publicly accuse Jesus of being a Samaritan, i.e., a person of mixed race and having a demon (John 8:48).
The virgin birth is important because it preserves the truth that Jesus is fully God and fully man at the same time. He received his physical body from his mother, Mary. But His eternal, holy nature was His from all eternity past (John 6:69). Joseph the carpenter did not pass on his sinful nature to Jesus because Joseph was not His father, God was. Therefore, Jesus had no sin nature (Hebrews 7:26).
What the Bible says about Christ’s virgin birth
Gabriel announces it to Mary
“Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”
Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:28-35 NLT)
Gabriel later repeats it to Joseph
“Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.” (Matt. 1:20 NLT)
Joseph needed to know this information because, “before they came together, Mary was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18). Joseph accepted God’s Word about this matter and proceeded to take Mary as his wife, but she remained a virgin until after Jesus was born: “He did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son” (Matthew 1:25).
More Bible verses about the virgin birth of Jesus
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isa. 7:14 ESV)
“To a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.” (Luke 1:27 ESV)
Therefore
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” (Col. 1:15 ESV)
“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” (Heb. 1:3 ESV)