The Biblical Worldview

April 30, 2010
Selected Passages From the Gospel of Luke
Dr. Allen Barber

The Virgin Birth - Essential For Salvation?

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. And the  virgin's name was Mary.
28 And he came to her and said, Greetings, O Favored one, the Lord is with you.
29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
30 And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of His father David.
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end.
34 And Mary said to the angel, How will this be since I am a virgin?
35 And the angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;  therefore, the child to be born
will be called holy -the Son of God.
36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
37 For nothing will be impossible with God.
38 And Mary said, Behold I am the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:26-39 ESV

Several years ago I was attending a Texas Ranger baseball game and was sitting in the outfield bleachers (this was before the new stadium was built). Directly in front of me were two young men that were discussing theology (they weren't paying much attention to the game). From the conversation, they were students of Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University and their professor had given them an assignment to write a paper on the virgin birth. As the conversation developed, they laughed and joked about the truth of the virgin birth, that is, did it really happen. It was obvious they did not believe it really happened. At the time I was a Baptist minister, so I leaned forward and introduced myself and told them I had overheard their conversation about the virgin birth. I asked them if they were studying for the ministry and if they planned to follow that vocation. They said they were.  Then I asked them how they were going to teach the fundamentals of Christianity to their respective Churches if they did not believe that Christ was born of a virgin since Christianity rises and falls on that doctrine.  They replied that it was not that important. By that time, those around us became more interested in what we were discussing than the Ranger game, which was actually boring.

I said, "O, but it is for if Jesus was not virgin born, then the Bible is a lie and the crucifixion is nothing but a myth." If Jesus was not holy in His nature then His death on the cross was less than efficacious. If he was born of an earthly father with a sin nature and all do for it is written, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; there is none righteous no not one," then his death could not possibly have atoned for the sins of the world. Without the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, there is no true Christianity and no salvation for the world. It becomes nothing more than another man-made religion. After saying that, I found the root problem with them; they did not believe man was a sinner from birth. Astonished at that statement (that was back in the 1970's and today nothing surprises me), I asked them if they had read the New Testament and paid attention to all the Scripture passages which make it abundantly clear that man is a sinner by birth and choice. They said they had read the entire New Testament, but it was a matter of interpretation (the usual cop-out for anyone who rejects the truth). As we ended our conversation, I learned their theology was the product of the liberal theologians who taught at Perkins. I challenged them to believe the Word of God and not what some seminary professor said.

The above passage has many prophetic implications and fulfills the first prophecy in Scripture promising a coming deliverer:

15 I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman, and your offspring (the human race born in sin) and her offspring (the Lord Jesus)
and he (Jesus) shall bruise your head (authority and power) and you (Satan) shall bruise his heel (crucifixion).

Genesis 3:15 ESV

The New Testament makes it clear that Jesus as the God-man had no sin nature for He was conceived of the Holy Spirit. Wasn't Mary a sinner the same as all of us and did she not have a sin nature?  The answer to both questions is "yes she did," but the sin nature is passed by the man and not the woman. This is the reason Mary could give the Lord a human body yet without sin since he was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Even medical science has proved man's sperm determines the sex of the child not the woman. 

Paul told us the sin nature is passed by man to the human race:

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all sinned--

Romans 5:12 ESV

The vast number of graveyards worldwide bear testimony that man is a sinner by birth for it is the sin nature that takes man to his grave. Well, what about Jesus, doesn't His death prove He was a sinner? No, it was only after the sins of the world were placed upon Him that He died and again by His own choice:

12 ...because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors
yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:12 ESV

18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again.
This commandment I have received from my Father.

John 10:18 NKJV

If Jesus was not conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin (not a young woman as some of the modern translations state; note; the Hebrew Masoretic Text of the Old Testament changed the Hebrew word meaning "virgin" to that meaning a young woman; for this reason, the early Church used the Septuagint [Greek translation of the Old Testament] and not the Masoretic text for they knew the Jewish Rabbinate had changed the wording in order to cast doubt on the virgin birth. All modern translations of the Old Testament are based on the Masoretic Text), He could not be the Son of God and the sin-bearer of mankind. The Father God in heaven Himself declared Jesus to be His only begotten Son:

17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven saying, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."

Matthew 3:17 NKJV

Those who deny the virgin birth of Jesus and that He was just an ordinary man are calling the Father in heaven a liar as well as making the Father less than God for He and Jesus are one:

29 My Father, who has given them to Me is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.
30 I and My Father are one.

John 10:29-30 NKJV

Jesus was one with His Father before the incarnation and during all the days of His earthly minister. When He laid aside the glory He had with His Father in eternity past, His deity was unaffected. He remained truly God even though He took a human body. The glory of God speaks of all that God is including His holiness, righteousness and power. It is the glory beyond this world where God reigns in brilliant splendor and beauty. That is what Jesus temporarily laid aside to come to earth and die for the sins of mankind. He did not lay aside His deity, which is proven from the fact He was conceived by the Holy Spirit not Mary's fiancee, Joseph.

Mankind is a tripartite being - body, soul and spirit (see I Thess. 5:23); therefore, the perfect holy nature of Jesus (the spiritual part) did not in anyway commingle or touch Mary's sin nature (in fallen sinful man, the spirit has merged with the soul and the soul not the spirit controls fallen man; in the new birth, the spirit regains ascendancy by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit). For a good understanding of the tripartite nature of man, I recommend The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee.

When I was in seminary at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas, I discovered that the renowned Methodist theologian, William Barclay did not believe in the virgin birth. Barclay was a copious writer and I had a set of his commentaries in my library.  I burned his commentaries rather than give them away for I did not want to participate in his heresy or cause someone else to stumble.  A colleague at the time and my pastor was appalled that I would burn Barclay's commentaries.  In fact, he told me that I should have given them to him.  He was of the opinion the virgin birth is not essential to salvation. I beg to differ.

Salvation begins with the virgin birth and the agent of that miracle is the Holy Spirit. Likewise, the Holy Spirit is the agent of the new birth, that is, we are born-again when the Holy Spirit baptizes us into the Body of Christ.  The regeneration process that causes our old dead spirit in Adam (all are born in Adam) to come alive in the Spirit and to enter into the spiritual kingdom of God is the work of the Holy Spirit; therefore, do we honestly think the Holy Spirit is going to join anyone to Jesus that denies the virgin birth.  If you think that, then you are badly deceived. The testimony of Sola Scriptura is that Jesus was virgin born for even the old Testament predicted the virgin birth, that is, the original Hebrew before the Rabbis changed the wording:

14 Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14 NKJV

Those who deny the virgin birth are yet unregenerated and still in their sin - that includes all clerics!  Here is their destiny:

21 Not everyone who days to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied or preached in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?
23 And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!

Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV

What is the Father's will to which Jesus refers? The answer is Luke 19:27:

27 But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me!

Lordship means the one who is supreme; the master and sovereign; therefore, for anyone claiming to be a Christian must submit to the Lordship of Jesus and be willing to keep His commandments. In another place, Jesus says, "Why do you call Me Lord, yet not do the things I say."  Christ cannot deny Himself and if he was not virgin born, then He is an impostor and we might as well renounce Christianity and join one of the world religions; however, we know the truth because the Holy Spirit has come into our hearts and given us divine revelation of the deity and Lordship of Jesus. If Jesus was not born of a virgin, then He was a sinner like the rest of us. Furthermore, He could not have ascended back to the Father in heaven if He was not virgin born for He would have been less than righteous. It was because of righteousness that He could lay His life down and take it up again, then ascend to the right hand of the throne of God.

10 ...of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;

John 16:10 NKJV

If you are one of those who doubt the virgin birth of Jesus yet claim to be saved and part of the Body of Christ, you are deceived and still in your sin. You need to repent of your unbelief and allow the Holy Spirit to regenerate your fallen dead spirit and join you to the Lord Jesus by Spirit baptism and birth.

The virgin birth of Jesus Christ is fundamental to Christian conversion and salvation. In fact, it is the starting point. Without it there is no Christianity!