Twisted Tuesday – Essential Doctrines of the Faith: The Virgin Birth

Hello again, my friends, I hope this post finds you all doing well. Today I’d like to continue in our series on the essential doctrines of the faith. If you’ve missed previous posts in this series I will link to them below. We’re going to be briefly discussing the virgin birth, the doctrine that Jesus Christ did not have an earthly father. This doctrine is, honestly, one of my favorites to consider. The truths of it go all the way back to the Garden, to the fall of man, when a promise was given. I’m getting ahead of myself though!

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Twisted Tuesday – Essential Doctrines of the Faith: The Resurrection of Christ

Let me start by explaining why this doctrine is so fundamental, and why denying it is so dangerous. When we discussed the deity of Christ and His resurrection we touched on a similar issue. We have to have the right, true, Biblical understanding of who Christ is. Christ was born of a virgin (Luke 1:26-27, Matt. 1:23-25) just as God had said He would be in Genesis and through His prophet (Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 7:14). This matters, because our Messiah, the Saviour who was sacrificed for our sins had to be a perfect sacrifice. Only God is perfect. God the Son became man, entering His own creation to live a righteous, sinless life, and die for the unrighteous. If Christ was not born of a virgin then He was the son of Adam, not the son of God, and His sacrifice can not save. You see, dear ones, the virgin birth was more than a miracle, it was the promised sign (Isaiah 9:6). It was more than the promised sign, it was the first evidence that Jesus Christ was no mere man, but in fact God (Titus 2:13)! The Word was made flesh (John 1:1-3).

Oddly enough, many of the cults have a correct view of the virgin birth, while distorting other aspects of Christ’s being. The Roman Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the Seventh Day Adventist’s each believe that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin. JW’s accept this, but follow it by a rejection of the deity of Christ, suggesting that Jesus was born of Gods power but was not a member of the Godhead. Roman Catholics accept that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, but then turn Mary into a mediator between man and Christ, encouraging prayers to her rather than to God. Other cults, like the Mormons, Scientologist, Christian Science, and Islam, flat out deny that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin. The Mormon church teaches that God had physical relations with Mary, which brought about the pregnancy. All others reject that Christ was born in any miraculous fashion. It needs to be stated that most of the liberal churches deny miracles, including this essential doctrine.

For more reading on the virgin birth and its importance, I recommend this article from Ligonier. I hope this series is a blessing to you all, and will help when addressing the cults, or just those in confusion. As always, beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.