Does the Bible Teach that Jesus Christ is Virgin Born and Sinless?

Does the Bible Teach that Jesus Christ is Virgin Born and Sinless?

Many people today scoff at the idea of Jesus’ Virgin Birth. But the Virgin Birth of Christ is one of the most crucial doctrines of Christianity. In fact, if Jesus were not virgin born, there would be no Christianity. Why? First, if Jesus is not virgin born, then He was born just like every other man. This would prove He was only a man. But if so, then His claim to be God was a lie and He was self-deceived. In other words, if He was only a man, He could never be the incarnation of God, as He claimed.

Further, if Christ was not virgin born, He could not have been the Savior of the world. As a man, He would have inherited a sinful nature from His parents. But if He Himself were sinful, He could not have been an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). If He were only a man, how could His sacrifice on the cross, the sacrifice of a mere finite being, satisfy the infinite justice of a holy God offended by human sin and evil? Only if Christ was both sinless man and fully deity could He properly serve as the atoning sacrifice for the world’s sins in the face of an infinitely holy God. Therefore, the Virgin Birth not only undergirds the doctrine of Christ’s deity, it also undergirds the doctrine of Christ’s sinlessness and His role as the world’s Savior.

But does the Bible clearly teach that Jesus was born of a virgin? Yes. In Isaiah 7:14, written 700 years before Christ was born, it prophesies, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” The word Immanuel means “God with us.” When Matthew describes the birth of Christ from the Virgin Mary, he declares this prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled in Jesus, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord has said through the prophet [Isaiah]: The virgin [parthenos] will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him “Immanuel” – which means, “God with us” (Matthew 1:22-23). The Greek word parthenos means only one thing in the New Testament: virgin.

Because Jesus was virgin born, He was also sinless. He even challenged His own enemies to prove otherwise – “Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?,” he asked (John 8:46). In John 7:18 Jesus said, “He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.” The apostles who lived intimately with Jesus for three years were able to examine His life in critical detail. Their unanimous confession was that Jesus was sinless. Peter said He was “one who committed no sin” (1 Peter 1:19). The Apostle John said, “And in Him is no sin” (1 John 3:5). Even the former skeptic, the Apostle Paul, said of Jesus, “He knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The author of Hebrews said that Jesus was “holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners” as well as “one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15; 7:26). The Roman governor Pilate, after examining Jesus, said he could find no fault in Him (John 18:38; Matthew 27:23-5; Luke 23:13). Herod concluded the same (Luke 23:13-15). Even Judas, who betrayed Him, confessed, “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4).

No one can logically deny reliable eyewitness testimony and the other evidence that shows Jesus is the only perfect and sinless man who ever lived. But if Jesus was perfect and sinless, shouldn’t we assume that what He has to say is important to us, regardless of what we may now think about Him?