Is the Virgin Birth Important?

[Pastor Sam]

The Bible is very clear that Jesus was born of a virgin. Isaiah 7:14 prophesied, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." Matthew 1:23 fulfills this prophecy, "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel - which means, 'God with us.'"

The virgin birth is an essential doctrine. It is the base of a sinless Jesus. Even though Adam and Eve both sinned in the garden (Gen 3:1-19), God placed responsibility for the Fall on Adam in Genesis 3:17-19: "To Adam he said, 'Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' 'Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

Romans 5:12 reiterates this thought: "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned." The Bible is clear that we inherited our sin nature from Adam. That is the reason we all die. In fact, Romans 5:17 says, "For if, by the trespass of the one man. . ." It is evident, according to Genesis 1:26 that Adam was created in God's image and then all of Adam's descendants are in his image (Genesis 5:3).

It is important to understand that it is not the mother, but the father who passes on a sin nature to their offspring. So, in order for Jesus to be born without a sin nature, it was essential for Him not to be born of a man. That is why it was necessary for Jesus to be born of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had to be virgin-born, so He did not have Adam's sinful nature, allowing Jesus to die as our sinless substitute!

There are certian fundamental truths of Christanity which can't be denied. And the virgin birth is one of these!
Pastor Sam

[Mark DeYoung]

Sam,
Has this been something that has come up in your ministry?  Usually, people don't question the virgin birth unless they are smoke screening the real reason they are rejecting the Jesus Christ birth.  Few people study or believe the old "gnostic" lie enough to actually form a viable discussion.

[jameshorsley1976]

I can never remember anyone doubting the Virgin birth in my ministry but surveys show that at least 1/3 of all church members not only disbelieve the virgin birth but also disbelieve the resurrection. If the virgin birth is not true then the accuracy of the entire Bible is compromised. God does not allow us to pick and choose what parts we want to believe. He demands that we believe it all.

[Pat]

Brother Sam,
Recent surveys have stated that a third of believers polled believed Jesus sinned, a third do not believe in the atonement, a third do not believe in the virgin birth. Yes, it is very important and you state correctly it is an essential doctrine.