The Virgin Birth

In March of 1974, my friend Tommie Sharp invited me to a revival meeting to hear Evangelist Dolphus Price. I accepted the invitation, went to the revival, and heard a message entitled “Three Hours of Darkness.” The Evangelist preached with passion and vividly explained how Christ became my sin-bearer. The message was clear and life-changing. That night, I accepted Christ as my personal Savior, but I knew virtually nothing about the Word of God. I didn’t grow up in church, I didn’t attend Sunday School, and I didn’t even own a Bible. I went forward to get saved three nights in a row until Micky Jefferson told me, “Timmy, you only need to get saved one time,” then he read 1 John 5:13 to me, which assured me of my salvation. I asked Mickey, “Why didn’t you guys tell me this the first night I got saved?” I mean, that’s pretty crucial information.

The point is, I knew absolutely nothing about the Bible. Nevertheless, I was baptized by immersion a few weeks later on a Sunday night. Slowly but surely, I began to grow in my faith. I immediately learned a lot about biblical separation but still knew very little about Bible doctrine. For instance, I knew nothing about the doctrine of the “virgin birth of Christ.” In September of 1976, I heard Evangelist John R. Rice preach in a chapel service during the first semester of my freshman year at Temple. I remember seeing the semi-trucks and the preacher boys unloading the books from The Sword of the Lord, many of which were written by Dr. Rice. After chapel, I bought Dr. Rice’s commentary on the Gospel of Matthew for $1.00. That evening, I clearly remember reading the Rice commentary about the virgin birth of Christ. It was a monumental occasion for me. I was amazed, fascinated, and even captivated. I had never heard about the virgin birth of Jesus, not one single sermon. So, I had my Bible open to Matthew 1:18-25 and Dr. Rice’s commentary open to the pages that explained the Matthew passage. The Matthew text said,        

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:  “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.

I learned two things that night. First, I learned that the Word of God confirmed the virgin birth of Christ. Second, I learned that the virgin birth of Christ was confirmed by the various names given to Christ.
 
The Scriptures Confirmed the Virgin Birth of Christ. Matthew’s story was not the only account of the virgin birth of Jesus; multiple places in both the Old and New Testaments told of His birth. I didn’t know much about apologetics, but I firmly believed in the infallible Word of God. In other words, I believed in the inspiration of the Bible. So, if the Bible said Jesus was conceived by a virgin, I had no problem accepting what the Bible clearly said. I was just amazed by how it all fits together with the doctrine of salvation. Little did I know what I learned that night some forty-eight years ago would become a non-negotiable, fundamental doctrine of the faith. Yet I could not help but think, “Do the Scriptures really confirm the virgin birth of Christ?”

There are three key phrases in Matthew 1 that convinced me that Scripture truly does confirm the virgin birth of Christ.

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.”  
Matthew 1:18

I immediately saw the phrase, “Mary was betrothed to Joseph” (v. 18). What does that mean? I learned the word “betrothed” also means to be engaged. Mary was only engaged to Joseph. They weren’t married yet. So, Mary was still a virgin.  

Then I saw the key statement “before they came together” (v. 18). In other words, before they physically/sexually came together, Mary was found to be with child. This phrase clearly supports the virgin birth of Christ.

The last key phrase I saw in verse 18 was, “she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.” What does that mean? I went down a little further in the Matthew passage and noticed the angel said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (v. 20b). I later learned the word “conceived” is the word γεννάω (gennaō) and is translated “born” over 41 times in the New Testament.¹ Wow! It’s true! The Holy Spirit had brought about this miraculous, virgin conception of Christ.

These three key statements in verse 18 alone are enough to convince someone about the virgin birth of Christ. However, I also noticed the word “virgin” in the text (v. 23). I was ignorant but hungry to learn. I remember thinking…okay, How could a virgin be “with child”? What was I learning? I had questions, but the text kept providing the answers.  

I learned from the Rice commentary that Matthew was quoting from the Prophet Isaiah 7:14. Matthew cited, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us” (v. 23). Both the Prophet Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew tells us Jesus will be born of a “virgin.” It was pretty clear. I was only 18 years old and a baby Christian. Yet, I knew if someone denied the virgin birth, he too was denying the Holy Scriptures.  

As I journeyed through the story, I noticed the first part of v. 25, where Jesus said that Joseph “did not know her (Mary) till she had brought forth her firstborn Son.” I learned from the Rice book the word “know” means to know intimately/sexually. Mary did not “know” Joseph intimately until she “brought forth” or gave birth to her Son, the Son of God. Joseph did not touch Mary sexually until she gave birth to “her” firstborn Son. He was “her Son.” Not the Son of Joseph but the Son of God conceived by the Holy Spirit. On that day, I learned that the Word of God confirmed the virgin birth of Christ.  

Second, I also learned the virgin birth of Christ was confirmed by the various names for Christ. Just look at the various names given to Jesus in the Matthew text. Although multiple names are given in the passage, I want to focus on two names in particular that support the virgin birth of Christ.

Let’s start with the name “Jesus” (v. 21). The angel announced, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”  His name is Jesus, and it means “Savior.”²   The One who came to save people from their sin. Rice pointed out that our sin nature was handed down through Adam. Thankfully, I already knew about the depravity of man. Rice quoted from Romans 5:12, which says, “through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” I memorized this verse when I joined the youth group and memorized the Roman’s Road. I learned sin entered the human race through Adam. But in Romans 5, Paul also confirmed, “As one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men” (Rom. 5:18). Adam’s sin brought condemnation to all men; however, Christ’s sacrifice brought salvation to this same fallen race. But didn’t Christ inherit the sin nature of Joseph? No! That’s why He was born of a virgin. So, He could save people from their sins…being The One and only Savior. Think about it. If Jesus inherited Adam’s sin nature, He too would need to be saved, and He would not qualify to be “The Savior.” So, who is Jesus? He is “God our Savior”. This is why He was born of a virgin. The Apostle Paul said, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Tim. 2:3-6). As Mediator, Jesus is both God and man. The name Christ means “Messiah.” He is God our Savior. Born of a virgin in order to bring man back to God. How? Through the blood of His cross (Col. 1:20). Peter further claimed, “you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (1 Peter 1:18-19). His blood is “without blemish” or defect. Peter goes on to say, “without spot” (aspilos), also translated without stain. Christ could not be tainted with sin if He is the Savior. Therefore, Jesus is the sinless, virgin-born son of God. The doctrine of the sinlessness of Christ (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; Heb. 9:14; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5) is dependent on the doctrine of the virgin birth. I think I was starting to understand a little theology. I went to my roommates, Tommie, Nathan, and Jerry, and I asked them what they thought. We had a “Happy Corner” discussion, and Tom essentially said the same thing Rice was saying in his commentary. Little did I know I was getting a grip on my future theology. By the way, I learned a lot in the Happy Corner.³  

The second title given to Christ in the text to support the virgin birth is the name “Immanuel.” In the Matthew 1 passage in verse 23,  the text says, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” What is the name of this child? His name is Immanuel or God with us.  He’s not like any other man. Isaiah and Matthew tell us this virgin-born child will be named Immanuel. This name describes who Jesus is and what He did. He is God with us. In the Old Covenant, man was systematic in his approach to God, observing set boundaries and limitations (Exodus 19:1-24). However, in the New Testament, God came to man. In fact, this is the mission of Jesus. John said, “The love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him (1 John 4:9). God came in human flesh to die for sinful man. There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. God is with us because God came to us via the virgin birth. John further claimed, “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14). On that day, I learned that the names of Jesus confirmed the virgin birth of Christ.  

If you grew up in Church and learned about the virgin birth of Christ as a child, then thank God. Maybe you had a godly Sunday School teacher who taught you about the virgin birth. Or perhaps you attended a Christian School and took a Bible class. Praise the Lord! Maybe you heard this truth every Christmas from your parents. That’s even better. However, I was a freshman in Bible College, and I was reading a commentary by John R. Rice. Later on, I engaged some of my friends on the subject in the Happy Corner. Slowly but surely, I began to see how the virgin birth, the sinlessness of Christ, and soteriology all fit together. The same seed placed in the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit was the same seed that brought about my new birth. I was re-genned, re-born, or regenerated by the same Holy Spirit (John 3:3-7; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:23). The virgin birth and the believer’s new birth were produced by the same seed. Thankfully, I got ahold of this life-changing truth.

What’s your story? Where were you the first time you learned about the virgin birth? For me, it was a monumental occasion.  

^{1 Swanson, J. (1997). In Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament) (electronic ed.). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
2 Ibid., Lit. Savior.
3 The Happy Corner was a restaurant on campus where the young scholars would wrestle with Calvinism, Arminism, Soteriology, Hamartiology, Pneumatology, Sanctification, Eschatology and many other ologies.}