Is The Virgin Birth Optional?

I remember one time as a younger student at a Christian university in South Carolina, we were asked if the virgin birth was necessary for salvation. I, unlike most of the younger students in the class, responded with an emphatic yes. The professor then proceeded to explain why it was not by pointing out Romans 8:9-10 to prove that only faith was required. I then proceeded to remind him, I was a bit older than most of the students in the class, that without the virgin birth, Romans 8:9-10 would be irrelevant, for if Christ was not born of a virgin, then he was conceived in sin just like the rest of us. 

This backdrop brings me to the texts at hand today: the genealogies of Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38. Matthew is the genealogy of Jesus through Joseph. Luke is the genealogy of Jesus through Mary. A careful study of these two genealogies would reveal that they are identical except in two points: 1. the genealogy of Joseph works forward and Mary’s works backward, and 2. they differ from King David on. In Matthew 1:6, we discover that the genealogy works from David through Solomon to Joseph, while in Luke 3:31, the genealogy works from one of David's other sons, Nathan, to Mary.

Why is this important? - Because it proves the necessity of the virgin birth. In Joseph’s genealogy through Solomon, it goes through a king by the name of Jeconiah (or Coniah), while Mary's does not. In Jeremiah 22:24-30, it says, "As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence; And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die. But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return. Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah." 

In the end, if Joseph were truly the biological father of Jesus, he would not be qualified to sit on the throne of David because of this curse. That is why the Bible says in Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” No, the virgin birth is not optional.

What Does It Mean to Be Born Again?

As I mentioned in the last post, our Lord knew exactly why Nicodemus was there and what Nicodemus needed. He knew that he was a slave to sin and that is why he told in John 3:3 that he needed to be born again when he said, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." This is the first time in the Bible “born again” is mentioned. 

What does it mean to be “born again”? In its simplest terms, it means to be born a second time. The Bible teaches that all men are born physically, but they also need to be born a second time or “again” spiritually. This is what Jesus was telling Nicodemus.

In v.4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Obviously, Nicodemus didn’t have a clue as what Jesus meant with the word “born again.” Why? - 1 Corinthians 2:14 tells us that the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. You see, Nicodemus wasn’t thinking in the spiritual, but in the physical.

In v.5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Notice He says, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Jesus is talking about two different births here. One is a natural birth while the other is a spiritual birth. There is an old saying, “Born once, die twice; Born twice, die once.” In other words, you must have two birthdays: a physical one and a spiritual one.

In v.6, our Lord goes on to explain that that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Man can only give physical life, while God can give both physical and spiritual life.

In v.7, he must have seen some astonishment on his face because he says, "marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." Nicodemus obviously showed some signs of amazement at what Jesus was saying to him.

In v.8, he says, "the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." In other words, the wind is sovereign and men cannot control it. We can hear the wind, but we can see it. In essence, he saying to Nicodemus to stop trying to see with your physical eyes what you know is there.

In vv.v.9-10 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Now it’s Jesus’ turn to respond in amazement, Jesus is accusing him of being a teacher without any knowledge of his subject.

Our Lord continued to say in vv.11-14 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: Now Jesus bottom lines it for Nicodemus by reminding him of a story in the Old Testament. The story is of Moses and the serpents in Numbers 21:1-9 

Through this account in the Old Testamen, our Lord is saying, "Nicodemus, just as Moses lifted up the serpent on the pole in the wilderness so that all could look on it and be saved…so am I going to be lifted up on a cross so that all who look to me can be saved." There are snakes (sin) in all of our lives and unless each and every one of us look to Jesus and the cross, we shall all likewise perish. That is why he said in Luke 13:3, I tell you, Nay, but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. 

Our Lord goes on to say in vv.15-16 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. You see, your physical birth put you into the family of man, but it’s your spiritual birth that will put you into the family of God! Remember the story of the “The Little Boy and the Duck” and his Grandmother standing at the window? 

I don't know what's in your past. I don't know what one sin the enemy keeps throwing up in your face. But whatever it is, I want you to know something. Jesus Christ was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing. And because He loves us, He is ready to forgive us. Perhaps He is just wondering how long we will allow the enemy to make slaves out of us. 

Remember the Duck?

In my last blog, I introduced my message that I taught last weekend at Rustburg Baptist Church from the text of John 3:1-16. Today, we get into the text and our Lord's conversation with Nicodemus.

The Bible says in Joh 3:1-2 that there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." There is no doubt that Nicodemus had heard of the fame of Jesus and confesses that we know that thou art a teacher come from God. How did Nicodemus know this? – Because he said for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

Also, notice that Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night. Did he do this because he was a just a busy man or because maybe he was ashamed or afraid to be seen talking with Jesus in broad daylight for fear of his fellow religious leaders?  I think that it was fear of what others would think of him.

I tell the students all of that time, “If you fear God, you will not fear men; but if you fear men, you will not fear God.” The Bible says in Proverbs 29:25 that The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.

In v.3, our Lord gets straight to the point when he answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Do you notice that Jesus did not thank Nicodemus for the kind words or flattery? Instead, he answers the question that he knew Nicodemus came to ask when he said, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

This was very characteristic of Jesus throughout His ministry in that he did not waste his time or words. In the next chapter, our Lord does the same thing in his conversation with the woman at the well when he cut through the pleasantries in John 4:16 when he asked her to Go, call thy husband, and come hither. You see God knows man and he knows that man has a sin problem and he has the answer to fix it.

At this point, I am reminded of a story about a little boy and a duck. He was visiting his grandparents on their farm. And he was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced but he could never hit the target. And getting a little discouraged, he headed back to dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let fly, hit the duck square in the head, and killed it. He was shocked and grieved. In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the woodpile, only to see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch that day grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the dishes." But Sally said, "Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today, didn't you Johnny?" And then she whispered to him, "Remember, the duck?" So Johnny did the dishes. Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing, and Grandma said, "I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make supper." But Sally smiled and said, "Well, that's all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help." And she whispered again, "Remember, the duck?" So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed. After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's, he finally couldn't stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he killed the duck. She knelt down, gave him a hug, and said, "Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing. But because I love you, I forgave you. But I was just wondering how long would you let Sally make a slave of you. 

You see God knows what is in the heart of man and that we are slaves to sin because He’s been standing at the window. He knows everything about us. He knew that Nicodemus was indeed a slave to sin and that’s why He told him, I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.

No Such Thing As The Middle

Last Sunday I had the privilege of bringing the message at the Rustburg Baptist Church here in Rustburg, Virginia. It was for their 116th anniversary. It was also the 25th anniversary of their pastor, Rick Cole. Again, I was honored. My text was from John 3:1-16.

The Bible makes it abundantly clear in Hebrews 9:27 that it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this, the judgment. It also says in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And in Romans 6:23a that the wages of sin is death. But it also goes on to offer hope at the end of Romans 6:23b by letting us know that in spite of that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And in Romans 5:8 that God commnendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. And in Romans 10:13 that whosoever shall call upon the Lord shall be saved. And finally in vv.9-10 of the same chapter, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

There is a scarlet thread of redemption that runs it way through every book of our Bibles that culminates in our Lord Jesus Christ. The church, this church, is a part of that plan.

Sometimes I believe in our world of tolerance, we’ve forgotten what happens to those who have not been born again. There is no such thing as the “middle” when it comes to salvation. The Bible states that either God is your father or Satan is your father. Either you are in a relationship with Christ, or you’re not; either you are born again, or you’re not. You are either God’s child, or you are God’s enemy; you are either storing up wrath, or you are storing up mercy; you are either heaven-bound, or you are hell-bound. No one is in the middle. No one is “almost there.” (Fay, p.7)

You Are Invited

I will be teaching at the Rustburg Baptist Church in Rustburg, VA this Sunday morning in the 11:00 a.m. service. Come out to support me and meet a great group of people!