Do we need to believe in the virgin birth of Jesus to be saved?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

When Adam sinned, God judged humanity with death (Genesis 3:16–19) such that every person born in the line of Adam has a corrupted nature (Romans 5:15, 19), is sinful from conception (Psalm 51:5), and under God’s wrath (Ephesians 2:3). God sent His Son, Jesus, to die in the place of such sinners (Romans 5:8). However, to do that, Jesus needed to be fully human but without humanity’s corruption.

While we do not understand the mechanics, being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary (Luke 1:35) meant Jesus was fully human yet not represented by Adam and thus not under his judgment of sin and death (Romans 5:12).

Not being corrupted by sin, Jesus had no sin and could die in the place of sinners. Denying the virgin birth attacks Jesus’ uncorrupted, sinless nature, and ultimately His ability to save. It also undermines Scripture and prophecy (Matthew 1:23). Therefore, it is not an optional doctrine.

Because the connection to Jesus' sinlessness might not be readily obvious, someone can be saved while ignorantly denying the virgin birth. Still, the truth of the virgin birth will eventually need to be embraced as it bolsters our understanding of who Jesus truly is—fully God and fully human, yet without sin—and strengthens our trust in His perfect work of salvation.

Rejecting the virgin birth risks distorting the foundation of the gospel, reminding us that the doctrines we sometimes take for granted are central to the hope and redemption God offers through Christ.

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• While the question of the virgin birth is a New Testament question, we need to understand the theological background of the Old Testament. The need for a virgin birth began in Genesis. There, after God told Adam not to eat from a particular tree (Genesis 2:17), he and his wife disobeyed God (Genesis 3:6).
• The result of their disobedience was that God cursed creation and humankind with corruption and death (Genesis 3:14–19). Because of God’s judgment of humanity through Adam, we are conceived already sinful (Psalm 51:5), and none are righteous (Psalm 14:3).
• However, after God cursed us, He also gave a hint that He would provide salvation. In Genesis 3:15, we read, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” While subtle, it was the promise of a Redeemer who would come through the seed of a woman. This was unusual because normally offspring are considered to come from their father (i.e., Genesis 5). Later, this birth from a woman is explained as happening through virgin-conception (Isaiah 7:14).
• Adding to our theological overview is also the understanding that God would bring forgiveness through a sinless sacrifice. The animal sacrifices He gave to Israel to atone for her sins were foreshadowings of Jesus. Not just any animal could be sacrificed. They had to be types selected by God, without defect (Leviticus 22:20–21) and unblemished (Exodus 12:5).
• Speaking of the future Redeemer, Isaiah recorded a prophecy that He would be like those animals, being the perfect Lamb who would die for His people (Isaiah 53).
• These passages set the background for a virgin birth. As can be seen, the Old Testament anticipated a Redeemer born of a virgin woman, sinless, to be humanity’s sacrifice.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• Matthew opens by explaining that Jesus is the provided sacrifice. It reads, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit … All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)” (Matthew 1:18, 22–23).
• Paul said of Jesus, “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4–5).
• Just as the Old Testament had prophesied, Jesus came from a virgin to save the world. But not only did Jesus’ virgin birth confirm He was the Redeemer, but it was also the way He could enter into humanity without receiving the curse of the rest of humanity. That was because everyone whom Adam represented was cursed (see Romans 5, particularly 5:12–14, 18–19).
• Being born of Mary, Jesus was truly human. However, Mary conceiving through the Holy Spirit, not through normal generation, meant that He did not have a corrupted, sinful nature like the rest of us have. So, the virgin birth preserved His sinlessness. He then lived like us, but without sin (Hebrews 4:15) and unstained (Hebrews 7:26).
• Our salvation rests on Jesus’ sinlessness. Because only sinners have to die (Romans 6:23a), when Jesus died, He had no sin for which to pay. This is how the Father could “make him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Father placed sin on Jesus as if He had sinned, and then judged Him as guilty on the cross.
• One is saved by confessing his or her sin and trusting in Jesus’s righteousness and His payment for one’s sin (Romans 10:9–10). The virgin birth is one piece in the puzzle about how Jesus could be both fully human and yet also perfectly sinless. Denying it undermines Jesus’ sinlessness and can be a denial of the gospel.
• Salvation requires childlike faith (Matthew 18:3). Just like a child doesn’t understand the details of everything they believe, a new Christian is placing his or her faith in Jesus and not in the ability to perfectly articulate doctrine. For example, when a jailer asked Paul how to be saved, he did not explain doctrine to him. Instead, he said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). Note that a childlike faith assumes ignorance, not willful rejection. If one comes to understand the implications of denying the virgin birth and still does, they have reason to be concerned about whether they truly believe in who Scripture says Jesus is.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

The Bible is filled with many accounts of the miraculous. But one of the most amazing, as well as most difficult to believe, is that of the virgin birth. It is because it describes a process with which we are all familiar (childbirth) and is based on Scripture’s claim that something miraculous happened during conception. Externally, it just looks like yet another birth, causing no shortage of conversation as secular scholars have tried to cast aspersions on Scripture by denying it. Unfortunately, some religions haven’t helped by expanding this account with non-biblical details.

However, Scripture speaks simply and unapologetically about the virgin conception. We learn that Mary was a virgin when she conceived. It doesn’t elevate her; it simply shows how she was faithful, and God chose her for that great honor (Luke 1:30). Those who lived then and knew Mary knew she had not been with a man. A virgin conceiving was no less miraculous back then. It wasn’t a belief based on naivety; it was because they were witnesses.

Passages that challenge our sensibilities teach us to believe what Scripture says. It should be no harder for us to believe that God caused Mary to conceive than the fact that Jesus rose from the dead or that He created the world. The supernatural is only “super” to us. It is all natural to God!

While the virgin birth may seem like a minor detail, it is part of the thread that explains that Adam’s original sin did not corrupt Jesus. Being sinless was the only way He could save humanity because He had to die as the perfect Lamb.

If the virgin birth is denied, it’s not merely a debate over a single miracle—it strikes at the heart of who Jesus is, His sinless nature, and the foundation of our salvation. Believing it reminds us that God’s ways transcend human expectation and that the extraordinary plan of redemption He accomplished through Christ is both real and trustworthy.

UNDERSTAND

• The virgin birth is not simply a miracle but is directly connected to Jesus' sinless humanity and His ability to serve as a perfect substitute for sinners.
• Denying the virgin birth ultimately undermines the sufficiency and identity of Christ.
• A new believer may not initially grasp the implications of every doctrine, such as missing the importance of the virgin birth, but that's not the same as outright rejecting it.

REFLECT

• How do you see the virgin birth as it connects to the larger gospel message?
• How does the virgin birth help you grow in your understanding of who Jesus truly is—not just that He saves, but how He can save?
• How do you respond when you do not fully understand biblical truth or doctrine?

ENGAGE

• In what ways does denying the virgin birth tend to redefine one’s view of Christ’s identity and authority?
• In what ways does denying the virgin birth affect one’s understanding of Jesus’ sinless nature and His ability to save?
• How can we clearly teach essential doctrines while remaining patient with new believers?