The Virgin Birth is central to Christian theology. It ensures that Jesus lived on this earth being truly God and truly human, did not inherit a sinful nature from an earthly father, and was the perfect sacrifice for human salvation.
The Virgin Birth demonstrates God’s unique initiative in redemption, fulfills prophecy, and establishes Jesus’ identity as the unique God-man (Immanuel) to restore the relationship between humanity and divinity, enabling true atonement for sin. Without it, humanity has no viable Savior. The Virgin Birth is the way God fulfilled His prophecy in Genesis 3:15 regarding the deliverance of humanity and the death of Satan.
Jesus the Christ (Messiah) was born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, thus uniting two natures — human and divine (This We Believe, p. 17). The following declaration appears in This We Believe:
. . . Jesus Christ the Son was, in His preexistence and in His eternal essence, God. Not a second God, He shared the singular deity of the Father. Jesus was introduced as such in the announcement of His impending birth: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel — which means, ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:23). The full import of the Immanuel passage is seen when we read it against the backdrop of the prophecy from Isaiah that it fulfills. Isaiah 9:6, 7 refers to a promised Child, the Son who will rule and be called “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end . . .” (NKJV) (p. 21).
The New Testament says Mary was a virgin (Luke 1:26-38; Matthew 1:18-23), fulfilling the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14. Mary herself confirms her virgin status in Luke 1:34. The Gospel writers maintain the doctrine of the Virgin Birth later in their writings. Luke mentions that Jesus was “the son (as was supposed) of Joseph” (3:23, ESV). Matthew carefully avoids calling Joseph the father of Jesus (1:16). So the prophets and apostles agree. In Isaiah 9:6, the child who is “born” is also the son who is “given.” In Galatians 4:4, Paul teaches the preexistence and virgin birth of Christ: “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman.”
The Virgin Birth enabled the Word to become flesh (John 1:14). It upholds the divinity of the One who entered this world as the last Adam to save humanity (1 Corinthians 15:45). Consider scriptures showing Jesus as the Son of God and sacrificial Lamb, including John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:18, 19; Isaiah 53; and Revelation 5:6, 12.
Romans 5:12 declares, “As sin came into the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (ESV; cf. vv. 17-19). For this reason, Jesus claims that we must be spiritually born to enter His kingdom (John 3:3-5). Spiritual life is found only in repentance of sins and faith in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13, 14; Ezekiel 36:27).
The Virgin Birth provides that Jesus had no sin nature (Hebrews 7:26) and therefore could be our perfect substitute (1 Peter 1:19), conquering sin and death once for all (Hebrews 10:10). A natural birth would dismantle the entire gospel and turn the good news of Jesus Christ into an insignificant historical event.
— Elder Chip Hinds
