"Are We Really So Bad?"

Benjamin Franklin, like many of the Founding Fathers of our country, was a very gifted and talented man of wide-ranging interests. In his Autobiography, he tells how he decided to engage in a systematic effort to develop moral perfection in his life. Franklin did not attend church very often (although he did go five Sundays in a row once!), partly because of what he considered the low quality of the preaching. He was a Deist, as many were in his time, and he considered himself a religious man. As part of his effort at "religion", he developed his plan for moral perfection.

The system he developed was detailed and thorough. He created a chart of 13 positive moral qualities which he would focus on. His chart was divided into days of the week on the top and moral qualities on the left. He carried this chart with him in a small book and would focus on a different quality each week, noting each day when he failed to live up to that quality. At one point he says "As I knew, or thought I knew, what was right and wrong, I did not see why I might not always do the one and avoid the other." He soon found out that his goal was more difficult that he realized. As he focused on one fault, other faults would take advantage of him.

Over time, he did improve in the areas he worked on, but, he says, "I was surprised to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined." Eventually, he came to the conclusion that he would have to live with some faults, but his reason is not what you would think. He realized that a man of perfect character would be either envied or hated or both. So he decided to keep a few faults in order to keep his friends!

I give Franklin great credit for being honest about himself and for making the noble effort to systematically improve his character. How many today put so much attention and effort into such a work?

Although people today will admit they aren’t perfect, most people believe that mankind as a whole is basically good. We are not the "sinners" that the mean, grumpy preachers tell us we are. In fact, one famous pastor believes it is wrong to tell someone he is a sinner; he believes our problem is low self-esteem, not "sin".

I find it amazing that people still cling to the outdated belief that people are basically good. Not only does the Bible very clearly teach the opposite (Romans 3:9-18), but experience shows us we are all morally imperfect (sinners) in our actions, attitudes, and nature. Sin is much more than selfishness. Sin is a fundamental violation of and rebellion to God’s moral requirements. Law libraries are filled with shelves of books to regulate human conduct. Our country is overflowing with judges, lawyers, prosecutors, and overcrowded jails. Professional counselors enjoy a steady business. Bookstores are filled with self-help and personal improvement books. And many suffer in silence behind closed doors, not seeking help, yet not happy either.

Strange, isn’t it, how we try to convince ourselves that we are good people, yet we sing songs at Christmas celebrating the birth of a Savior. Many Christmas songs that we sing so enthusiastically, and often without careful reflection on what they are saying, focus on powerful sin as the reason "the Word was made flesh" (John 1:14). For example, "Joy To The World" in stanza three mentions "No more let sins and sorrows grow, . . . He comes to make His blessings flow, Far as the curse is found." In "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing", stanza one says "God and sinners reconciled". In the English carol "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen", stanza one says "Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day; To save us all from Satan’s power, When we were gone astray."

The Bible portrays sin as a powerful enemy, a force within us that we cannot escape by our own power. Yes, people like Benjamin Franklin can improve themselves through hard work and determined willpower. Yet very often such "success" creates modern-day Pharisees who believe they are good enough for God.

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of the Savior, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. People who are not that bad don’t need a Savior. Our problem is not medical, psychological, educational, financial, or environmental. Our root problem is spiritual, a broken relationship with the Lord God. Any solution other than Christ only masks the real need and will only disappoint eventually.

"Believing The Virgin Birth"

Christmas songs such as "Silent Night" explicitly refer to it. Famous doctrinal creeds such as The Apostles’ Creed, The Nicene Creed, The 39 Articles of the Church of England, and the Westminster Confession of Faith clearly mention it. Christmas pageants all over the world refer to it. But does anyone really believe it?

I suspect the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ is one of those beliefs that some people publicly acknowledge but privately laugh at. Yet the Bible is very clear in its teaching on the Virgin Birth (not to be confused with the Catholic beliefs about the Immaculate Conception of Mary or the Perpetual Virginity of Mary).

Beginning with the OT prediction in Isaiah 7:14 and confirmed in Matthew and Luke, the Virgin Birth is essential to the theology of salvation. The Virgin Birth is the method God used to bring the eternal Son of God (John 1, Colossians 1, Revelation 22) into the world as a human being.

Logically, there are only 4 possibilities for the birth of Christ.
1. A human father, no human mother
But this raises the question of how to be born since men do not have babies
2. A human father and a human mother
How would this birth be any different from any other birth?
3. No human father and no human mother
Would this make Jesus some type of alien, not human at all?
4. A human mother, no human father

The most unique & different of all the options, this allows Jesus Christ to be both God and man at the same time. As fully God, He would be able to pay the penalty for our sin. As fully man, He would be able to be our representative and substitute sacrifice. Yet this possibility also allows the element of miracle since the virginity of the woman could be verified, giving the situation a mystery which the human mind would have to deal with.

The context of Isaiah 7:14, one of the most famous verses in the Bible, shows that the Hebrew word translated "virgin" in the King James refers to a young woman who is a virgin. The passage teaches that God is not going to deliver His people by military force or political maneuvering but by the birth of a Special Child. Unless the woman is a virgin, the birth does not have any special significance and is not any different than any other birth.

The wording of the genealogy of Christ in Matthew 1:16, especially in the Greek text, shows that the birth of Jesus Christ was different than the other births of the genealogy. The explicit statements of the angel to Joseph in Matthew 1 and to Mary in Luke 1 clearly teach a virgin birth.

Some object to the Virgin Birth by referring to it as a biological impossibility. Yet, interestingly, that objection was the first recorded objection to the Virgin Birth, and that objection came from Mary herself (Lk 1:34). The inspired answer? The power of God will make this possible (Lk 1:35).

If someone in the ministry does not believe in the virgin birth, that person is embracing unbelief and refusing to accept what the Bible clearly teaches. In such situations, that person has become heretical and should be removed from his ministry.

When a person is exposed to what the Bible teaches about the virgin birth and that person refuses to accept that teaching, that person cannot be a Christian because he is denying a fundamental doctrine of Christianity. A person cannot be a Christian and deny what Christianity teaches. He may be a religious person, but he is not a Christian.

More than just a "Christmas story", the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ is clearly taught in the Bible and is a fundamental doctrine of Christian belief. The Virgin Birth is an essential part of the profound and ingenious plan of salvation that God has designed.