Belief or Love

           Several years ago, I attended a pastor’s conference and heard a well-known, Baptist preacher proclaim, “Belief in the virgin birth is essential to your salvation. If you don’t believe in the virgin birth, you’ll split hell wide-open.” Immediately, loud shouts of “amen” echoed throughout the conference hall as the gathered pastors heartily affirmed the preacher’s bold pronouncement.

           Initially, I found myself in agreement with the preacher and his doctrinaire declaration; but as I began to further process what he said, I found myself troubled by his remarks. For most of my life I have believed Jesus was virgin-born (and still do), but is belief in the virgin birth essential to one’s eternal salvation? After pondering the question for a while, I concluded it is not.

           In the four gospels, only Matthew and Luke indicate Jesus was born of a virgin. John and Mark are silent on the subject. The Apostle Paul never alludes to the subject, nor do any of the other New Testament writers. Most significantly, Jesus himself never makes the claim. 

Am I suggesting the virgin birth is untenable because it was only mentioned by Matthew and Luke. Of course not! Their testimony, alone, is good enough for me; but at the same time, I find nothing in the New Testament that makes belief in the virgin birth a requirement for salvation. Unless I am mistaken, Jesus offers salvation to those who follow him, not to those who choose to affirm some specific set of beliefs.

           Beliefs. We all have them, and they’re vitally important to our understanding of the Christian faith. While beliefs are important, they do not represent Christ’s presence in our life. According to the New Testament, Christ’s presence in our life is marked, not by what we believe, but by how we act. To be more specific, Jesus indicates others will know we are his followers by the way we love one another. In John 13:35, Jesus clearly stated, By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. Jesus did not indicate others would know we are Christians by our affirmation of the virgin birth (or any other doctrine). Jesus simply said others would know us by our love.

In the end, Christianity is not simply a collection of orthodox beliefs. Christianity is a way of life, a sacrificial way of life marked by the way we demonstrate Christ’s love.  

           The Bible is quick to warn about putting too much emphasis on beliefs. James (the brother of Jesus) put it this way. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe.

           When Christians become preoccupied with beliefs, love is, too often, relegated to the realm of insignificance. That’s especially true in today’s polarized society. Sadly, some Christians determine how they will treat a person based on that person’s belief. The thinking goes like this. “If you agree with me and embrace my beliefs, I will welcome you with loving arms; but if your beliefs are different, I want nothing to do with you. . .” Even the demons believe.

          At Rutledge Baptist Church, women to serve as deacons and we believe the Bible affirms our practice. Obviously, our practice differs with the belief held by others. For us, that’s okay. We’re happy to relate lovingly to others even when we don’t agree. For us, sharing Christ’s love with others is so much more important than sharing identical beliefs.

          Will those who live around us know we are Christians because we embrace the virgin birth? No. Will they know we are Christians because we ordain the right gender? No. Will they know we are Christians because we profess the right set of beliefs? No. In the end, the legitimacy of our Christian faith is evidenced by one thing, and one thing only. They will know we are Christians by our love.