The Four: A Survey of the Gospels

Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom

From Behind the Veil: The Epistles of John

Deep Exegesis:The Mystery of Reading Scripture

Jane Austen
(A Biography)

Solomon Among the Postmoderns

The Baptized Body

1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary

The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter

A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons

Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature

Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen

The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism

A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel

Against Christianity

From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution

Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy

Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper

A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament

Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature

Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays

Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life

The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church

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Theology - Christology: Exhortation

In the early twentieth century, the virgin birth became a litmus test of orthodoxy.  Fundamentalists affirmed the virgin birth; modernists denied it.  The debate was about miracles: Fundamentalists believe that God can alter the normal pattern of creation and make things work differently.

We at Trinity are fundamentalists, but the virgin birth is not just about the reality of miracles.  After all, God had given miracle children many times before, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to Manoah and Elkanah.  The virgin birth is different, and that difference is the heart of the gospel.

The virgin birth is about the miracle of grace.  It is a sign of the fact that we cannot become the humanity of God, the human partner in God’s covenant, on our own.  It displays the priority of grace: If we are to go to God, God must first come to us.  We can’t make our flesh God’s flesh.  God has to take our flesh to Himself.

The virgin birth shows too that our salvation is nothing less than a new creation.  The cloud of the Spirit hovers over Mary as He fluttered over the womb of heaven and earth at the beginning of creation.

Together with the resurrection, the virgin birth points to the power of God to call things into being from nothing, so that the story of Jesus is surrounded by two great signs of God’s resolve to bring life from death – the virgin womb, and the empty tomb.

Since the virgin birth is a pointer to grace, it is also a pointer to our death in sin.  Scripture says that apart from this grace, the grace manifest in the virgin birth and incarnation, we are “dead in our transgressions.”  If we are to enjoy new life, we must put off this death by continuous confession and repentance.