Must One Believe In The Historicity of the Virgin Birth To Be A Christian?
A Story To Make The Point
I remember at Christmas time receiving certain toys over the years which made my imagination run wild. This especially happened whenever I received basketball cards or jerseys.
For a long time I always wanted to play in the NBA. I remember having a “cry session” after losing a pivotal youth playoff basketball game where I told my dad, “Dad…but the NBA is all I got!” One can only imagine how many times that story has been retold over the years in my family.
I dreamed of playing in the NBA. Those were the pictures on my mirror, the video games I played, and the endless imaginations in my mind. Allen Iverson, Jason Kidd, Ray Allen, Vince Carter. I could imagine myself playing alongside them in an All-Star game.
My imagination would run wild with the “what ifs”. It was thrilling inside my head. Blocking shots and running the length of the court to dunk it on someone’s head—always with an “and one”. I would return the wagging finger to Dikembe Mutumbo just like Michael Jordan did. There were alley-oops, steals, no-look passes, and last second shots.
I would go outside to practice that game-winning shot. I didn’t need a virtual reality headset. Game 7 of the NBA Finals was happening right there in my driveway in Montgomery, Alabama. [It’s funny how people have recently made videos on social media about this but it is so true. We all did it. Remember when you would miss the shot and there would be the miracle of somehow 5 more seconds being added to the clock?]
I would do all I could to picture the moment. Feel the moment. Indulge in the moment. But, that wasn’t the reality of my life. I was just a 5th grader putting up shots in the driveway while my current YMCA basketball team was trying to win 50% of their games. The even greater reality was that I was hoping my reading quizzes on the upcoming Monday would be a little higher than a 50%.
My imagination wasn’t reality. Even if I did end up making it to that exact scenario later in life, at the time of the imagination it was not real. While I could imagine it and delight in it as much as I wanted, it wasn’t the truth. While I hoped that might happen one day, I didn’t actually have a NBA Championship Trophy in my 5th grade mansion. It wasn’t historical or actual.
Here is the point: If the gospel is merely imaginary, symbolic, allegorical, or even just fascinating teaching where you can believe the parts you want and not believe other parts—then it isn’t real good news. If there isn’t real good news then you can’t have a real new beginning.
Am I A Christian?
A New York Times journalist once sat down with Tim Keller to ask the most important question someone can ask: “Am I a Christian?”
This journalist was someone who deeply admired Jesus’ message and ministry but remained skeptical about whether the virgin birth and resurrection actually happened in history.
“Kristof begins by asking Keller if those historic beliefs are essential to the Christian faith, or if he can ‘mix and match.’ ‘If something is truly integral to a body of thought, you can’t remove it without destabilizing the whole thing,’ Keller says. ‘A religion can’t be whatever we desire it to be.’ Keller goes on to say, ‘the power behind the whole universe was not just an impersonal cosmic principle but a real person who could be known and loved.’”
Real Good News For A Real New Beginning
Matthew begins his Gospel with the words “the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (1:1).
There is a historicity to this. When it mentions that Jesus is “the son of David, the son of Abraham” it is speaking about real people in real time during real periods of world history. The Gospel of Luke will trace Jesus’ lineage all the way back to Adam (Luke 3:23-38). The Gospels don’t hesitate to affirm the historicity of the Old Testament. Matter of fact, to deny the historicity of the Old Testament is tantamount to denying the sinlessness of Jesus. For Jesus believed these were actual moments in world history (Mt. 12:38-42 [Jonah]; 19:4-6 [Adam and Eve]; 24:37-39 [Noah]).
As C.S. Lewis so memorably put it: “He is liar, lunatic, or Lord.”
If David and Abraham aren’t historical figures then what is Jesus? If the Bible is symbolic and allegorical then is any of it actual good news? If only parts of the Bible are historical and factual then who is to determine which parts?
Don’t you see how denying the historicity of the Old Testament begins to unravel the very good news of the gospel?
What Christians Have Always Believed
Without a real Incarnation and a real virgin birth there is no real salvation. Christians have believed in the historicity of this for 2,000 years. The Apostles’ Creed says: “I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary”.
The Nicene Creed, Chalcedonian Creed, and Athanasian Creed (along with the many Confessions and Catechisms) all affirm the historicity of the Incarnation and Virgin Birth. Often heard in churches before the creeds are recited is: “Christian, what do you believe and for what would you be willing to die?”
And Christians really have died because they believed and defended these historical truths.
This is not a “take it or leave it” or a “mix and match” religion. There is no valid form of Christianity without an actual and historical virgin birth. And if there is no actual and historical virgin birth then there is no real “new beginning” for sinners who believe in Jesus.
The Difference Reality Makes
Christians often wrestle with assurance of salvation. Christians who “truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love Him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before Him, may in this life be certainly assured that they are in a state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God: which hope shall never make them ashamed” (WCF 18.1).
We often wonder if Jesus really has saved us. The historicity of the gospel affirms that He has! Yes, yes, yes…we must examine ourselves to see if we have believed (2 Cor. 13:5). We must actually believe in Christ. But, as the Marrow Men affirmed, there can be no assurance of salvation if there isn’t assurance of Christ Himself.1
We must be assured that the life and ministry of Jesus—along with His miracles, teaching, sinless life, atoning death, bodily resurrection, and ascension into Heaven—really happened in real time 2,000 years ago. Because that did happen then we can have a new beginning and a “new genesis” (lit. translation of Mt. 1:1).
We must doubt the forgiveness of our sins and imputed righteousness of Christ if the virgin birth, sinless life, atoning death, and bodily resurrection didn’t happen. But, because it really is the central moment in all of world history we can have a new spiritual reality that we actually enter into and tangibly affects our entire lives. Through faith given to us by the Holy Spirit, we are united to the GodMan Jesus Christ who reigns in the Heavens right now.
I don’t have to “forgive myself” because God Almighty has forgiven me (Jn. 19:30; 1 Jn. 1:9)! I need to believe Him! I need to trust that this is my reality in Christ (Rom. 8:1). The real and historical good news of the gospel is that Jesus Christ was really born of the virgin Mary that it might be revealed that God alone can provide a real salvation that we really need. The miracle is the central to the message.
He was conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit in order to be born of the virgin Mary. This secured the fact that Jesus didn’t have a sinful nature. And this secures the fact that Jesus is not merely a Man but is the GodMan (another truth Christians are “willing to die for”). Because He was an actual pure and spotless Lamb of God (Is. 53) He can make real atonement for real sins to give us a real new beginning (Heb. 9).
Though you struggle with doubts and are assaulted by the Evil One, rest assured that there is a real Jesus in Heaven who has really sat down at the right hand of the Father after really making sufficient atonement for sins and really rising from the dead bodily where He really reigns and rules over all existence in the favor of all those who trust in Him. He gives you faith and sustains your faith.
Dear Christian, you can rest in Him. He gives you a real new beginning (2 Cor. 5:17).
For a great modern summary and application of “The Marrow Controversy”, see Sinclair Ferguson’s book The Whole Christ.