CHRISTIAN FREEDOM TODAY

Even now, those who come to a knowledge of Jehovah God and his purposes can, though not yet perfect, please God and enjoy great freedom, as the apostle continues: “that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk, not in accord with the flesh, but in accord with the spirit [of God].” (Rom. 8:4) They follow “the perfect law that belongs to freedom.”​—Jas. 1:25.

True Christians therefore exercise great freeness of speech in telling others about the freedom that mankind can attain through God’s arrangement. (Phil. 1:18-20) But they follow the apostle Peter’s counsel: “Be as free people, and yet holding your freedom, not as a blind for badness, but as slaves of God.” (1 Pet. 2:16) They experience great comfort, peace and security even in this world enslaved to sin. They have proved for themselves the truth of Jesus’ words: “You will find refreshment.”​—Matt. 11:29.

Was There Really a Virgin Birth?

TO MANY, the belief that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin is a legend. They view it as no different from ancient myths of the Greeks and others that tell of humans beings fathered by gods.

Is there a valid basis for this opinion? What about such ancient myths? Greek gods are depicted as lusting after women and producing “demigods” through them. Reasonably, then, after discussing legendary “virgin births,” The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (Vol. 4, p. 791) concludes: “The yawning chasm between these pagan myths of polytheistic promiscuity and the lofty monotheism of the virgin birth of Jesus is too wide for careful research to cross.” Regarding the assertion that the idea of Jesus’ virgin birth finds its roots in an Oriental myth, the Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics (Vol. XII, p. 625) observes that “there is no evidence whatever” for the existence of such a legend. So, then, belief in Jesus’ virgin birth can in no way be linked to any mythological supernatural births.

But does the Bible really teach that Jesus was born of a virgin? Many people maintain that it does not, but that it presents Jesus as the actual son of Joseph. They point to the following: Inhabitants of Nazareth referred to Jesus as “the carpenter’s son” and as “a son of Joseph.” (Matt. 13:55; Luke 4:22) Philip told Nathanael: “We have found the one of whom Moses, in the Law, and the Prophets wrote, Jesus, the son of Joseph.” (John 1:45)