“Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” Romans 1:1-4
Paul, like other Christian Apostles, makes a strong case for Christ’s eternal position as the Son of God. Paul appealed to Christ’s birth, death and resurrection. Those who claim that Paul never spoke or wrote about the Virgin Birth of Christ apparently missed this verse in Romans 1 where he declares that Jesus Christ was “born of the seed of David according to the flesh.” In his second letter to Timothy, Paul repeated his affirmation of the Virgin Birth – “Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel.” (2 Timothy 2:8) It’s important to note that in both Romans and 2 Timothy, Paul connected Christ’s birth to His resurrection. Both of these truths are at the core of Christianity.
First, the Lord’s birth – “born of the seed of David according to the flesh.”
This doctrine concerning the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ began thousands of years ago when God spoke to Eve in the Garden of Eden – “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:15) Notice that God spoke to Eve about “her” Seed. God did not say anything to Adam about “his” Seed because the Seed God spoke about would not come through man. The Seed would come through a Virgin.
God also spoke to Abraham about this same Seed – “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” (Genesis 22:18) The Apostle Paul made it clear in his letter to the Galatians that the “Seed” God spoke about to Abraham is Christ Jesus our Lord – “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ.” (Galatians 3:16)
Paul said that Jesus Christ was born “of the seed of David according to the flesh.” God promised that Israel’s Savior would come through the physical lineage of King David.
“I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, ‘Mercy shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.’ ‘I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David: ‘Your seed I will establish forever, And build up your throne to all generations.’” Selah” Psalm 89:1-4
“Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David: His seed shall endure forever, And his throne as the sun before Me; It shall be established forever like the moon, Even like the faithful witness in the sky.’ Selah” Psalm 89:35-37
The Apostle Matthew made clear that Christ was the promised Seed of David when he wrote this in his Gospel account:
“So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’ So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’ Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.” Matthew 1:17-25
Christian historian and apostolic confidant Dr. Luke wrote two of the longest Books of the New Testament. He also made clear in his Gospel account that Jesus was the promised Seed of David, and, as promised in the Old Testament, would rule Israel from the Throne of David.
“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, ‘Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!’ But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.’ Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I do not know a man?’ And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.’ Then Mary said, ‘Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.” Luke 1:26-38
Paul was an Old Testament expert and knew that “the Christ” would come from David’s lineage. He taught early in his ministry that Jesus was “the Christ” from the “seed” of David:
“He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus.” Acts 13:22-23
The words “according to the flesh” are important for many important reasons – one of them being that it was through His flesh that the Seed of the woman would bruise (crush) the head of the serpent, even as the serpent would bruise the heel of the Seed. It was through His human flesh that Jesus Christ would be “wounded for our transgressions” and “bruised for our iniquities.”
“Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked—But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53
The doctrine of the “flesh” of Jesus Christ has been challenged for centuries. Can we finally put the argument to rest? We’ll see in the next part of our special study about Romans – The Gospel of God.
In Christ’s Love and Grace,
Mark McGee
GraceLife Ministries
“Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”
GraceLife Blog 
Don’t you find it interesting that Yahshua was declared the Son of God at His baptism and not at His resurrection, Paul erred.
Please share the Scriptures you are using and I’ll respond.
Thanks! Mark
Hi There:
Matthew 3:17 ‘And lo a voice from Heaven saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
It is seems but I’m not using it, that in the Hebrew Matthew, there is included with this ‘This day have I begotten thee.’
What Scripture are you using in the claim of Paul’s error? How did it lead you to that conclusion? Thanks! Mark
Hi Marl:
You had quoted Rom 1:4 ‘…declared the Son of God…by the resurrection from the dead.’
This is simply an error, if you will. Yahshua was declared the Son at His baptism by John and again on the Mount of Transfiguration.
However Paul made more errors than this, but that can be a lengthy conversation. One that I would be more than willing to discuss if you have the time.
Thanks
Michael
The Greek word for “declared” is horisthentos. It means “designated, defined, determined, appoint.” The word comes from horizo and carries the idea of determining horizons or boundaries. The birth, life, baptism, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are all part of the declaration (marking off horizons) of His being God the Son.
As for Paul making “more errors than this,” I think it wise to remember that Jesus Christ personally chose Paul for his unique ministry to the Gentiles and that the Apostle Peter wrote, “Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” (2 Peter 3:14-16)
Rather than finding error in Paul’s writings, we find clarification and confirmation of God’s plan for the human race.
Thanks! Mark
Hi Mark
How did that lead me to that conclusion? Well either Paul was right or he was wrong. In this case he was wrong. I believe it is very important to give the greater authority to the Gospels rather than relying upon epistles.
Thanks
Michael
The Apostle Peter, prominent in the Gospel accounts, supported Paul’s wisdom concerning the plan of God on several occasions. Peter called Paul’s epistles “Scripture” in 2 Peter 3. Peter, who certainly had the approval and calling of Christ upon his ministry, saw Paul’s letters with equal authority to the Old Testament Scriptures.
Why would you think that Paul’s epistles are of lesser authority than the Gospels? How do you determine when Paul is right or wrong? By what authority do you make that statement? What is your proof that Paul’s writings are in error?
Thanks! Mark
Why do I think the epistles are a lesser authority? God never commanded obedience to Paul, but on the other hand when He said ‘This is my beloved Son ‘Hear ye Him.’ Hear in the Hebrew is ‘Shama’ and it means ‘hear and obey.’
Yahshua said ‘All authority in Heaven and Earth is given unto me.’
Also Deu 18:18 ‘I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.’
Mat 23:2-3 2 Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:
3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
So Yahshua in this passage is telling His disciple to DO the Law. All of it. What is meant by ‘Moses’ seat’ was reading from the book of the Law. He only warned don’t follow the pharisees in their hypocrisy.
However Paul said to be dead to the Law, which is tantamount to saying ‘leave it behind, it is of no effect for Paul’s followers.’
Yahshua said ‘post resurrection’ ‘Mat 28:20 ‘Teaching them to observe ALL things whatsoever I have commanded you:…’
So in this is clearly stated that the neither the cross nor the resurrection changed anything concerning obeying the Law of God.
Paul also said ‘what ever is not of faith is sin.’
Yet John says ‘sin is the transgression of law.’
John also says ‘1John 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his Commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.’
Again, Yahshua commanded His disciples to keep and do the Law, pre-resurrection and post-resurrection. However if Paul taught the same thing, then why do Christians deviate from from Yahshua and strictly follow Paul?
Yahshua also says to a certain group ‘I never knew you, Depart from Me, you who are without the Law.’ (Mat 7:23) ‘Iniquity in this verse is ‘anomia’ and it means without the Law.’
So to place Paul in equal authority with Yahshua is a recipe for personal disaster.
Thanks
Michael
What Books of the New Testament do you believe are on the same level of being Scripture as the Gospel accounts? I sense we may view the Holy Spirit’s inspiration of the 27 NT Books differently.
Since Jesus speaks in the Book of Acts and tells His disciples – “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:7-8) – I’ll assume that you accept Acts as Scripture. If that’s incorrect, please let me know.
It’s quite clear in the Book of Acts that Jesus Christ chose Saul of Tarsus, the most ardent enemy of the followers of Jesus, to be “a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15) Paul explained Christ’s calling on his life this way when he made his appeal to King Agrippa –
“While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.” Acts 26:12-18
God moved so powerfully in the life and ministry of Saul of Tarsus (Paul) that almost everything written after Acts 12 is about Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles. As confirmation of this change, Paul and Barnabas traveled from Antioch to Jerusalem to debate the issue of forcing Gentile Christians to be circumcised and obey the Law of Moses. The Apostle Peter defended Paul’s authority to preach the Gospel God had given him (Acts 15:6-11). Paul and Barnabas then made their presentation – “declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles” (Acts 15:12). In the end, the Jewish apostles agreed with Paul that they would minister to Jews (the circumcision) and Paul and Barnabas would minister to Gentiles (the uncircumcision) (Acts 15:13-29; Galatians 2:7-10).
If you begin reading the Book of Acts at chapter 16, you would know almost nothing about the Jewish Apostles and the believers in Judea. Everything the Holy Spirit inspired Luke to write in the Book of Acts from that point on is about Paul’s missionary journeys to Gentile nations to preach the Gospel of Christ.
So, why do you not believe that what Paul taught and wrote is equal in authority to what is recorded in the Gospels? Keep in mind that one of those Gospel accounts, Luke, was written by the same person who wrote the Book of Acts. In fact, Acts is a continuation of the former account he wrote to Theophilus about “all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:1-3). It would seem that if Luke’s Gospel is authoritative, so would be Luke’s letter known as Acts.
Finally, let me note that I do not “place Paul in equal authority with Yahshua.” Paul was the chief of sinners. He knew that, said that, wrote that. Paul knew Christ Jesus was the God the Son. He did not believe he was equal in authority to Christ and neither do I.
Thanks! Mark
Hi Mark
Haven’t you noticed that Paul gave three conflicting testimonies concerning Damascus Road? First they heard the voice then they didn’t hear the voice. Also when Paul came to Jerusalem it was on account of rumours that he was leading an apostasy from Moses, which he denies before James. But when it came time for him to appear in court he lied and said it was his preaching of the resurrection that started the riot.
Also back to Damascus Road, ‘It is hard to kick against the prick.’ Is a quote from a Greek play and this quote is from Zeus.’ So personally I think Paul is liar and the truth is not in him. Paul also confessed to lying in Rom 3:7 saying that the Truth abounded through his lie. So again a man who lies can not be trusted.
Personally I think Acts proves Paul a false prophet and further that it wasn’t the real Yahshua that Paul met but a counterfeit. He lied before the Sanhedrin, He lied about Damascus Road and again in Rom 3:7 he is a self confessed liar. No lie is of the Truth.
Thank you for sharing your beliefs. Best wishes to you. Mark
Hi Mark
I forgot to mention that 2 Peter today is considered by the majority of Bible Scholars to a Psuedaepigrapha or rather a false writing merely attributed to Peter, which in fact was quite common in those days.
I am familiar with what liberal scholars think about 2 Peter. I disagree and so has most conservative scholarship for the past 1900+ years. What do you accept as God’s Word in the New Testament? What about the Book of Acts and Paul’s letters?
Thanks! Mark
Hi Mark
Actually the only time God spoke in NT is when Yahshua opened His mouth. And of course at His baptism and transfiguration.
The four gospels, personally I give more authority to Matthew and John, I use Acts at times, James and 1,2,3,John, Jude along with Revelation. However, New Testament is kind of misnomer, YHVH said concerning Yahshua that ‘I will give you as a covenant for the people, for a light to the gentiles.’ This of course was usurped by Paul.
Primarily Mark, I pay close attention to things like ‘He who come to ME and hear My word and does it, I will liken unto a wise man.
But he who come to Me and hears my word and does not do it, I will liken unto a fool. I know you’ve already gathered this in, but I don’t count Paul as being anything closely resembling any sort of inspired. The fruit of Paul’s doctrines is a lawless Christianity. Why? Because they chose the words of Paul over the Words of Yahshua. Yahshua commanded His disciples to keep and do the Law, Paul loosed his followers from the Law. Since Paul was never given the Words of Eternal Life, nor is Paul the way, the truth, and life, nor is Paul the resurrection and the life, I choose to hear and obey Yahshua who is the Truth and anything contradicting Him is tossed on the garbage heap. God has never at anytime condemned those who listen to and obey His Son.
Yahshua said the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, Psa 119:142 says ‘…Thy Law is the Truth.’
Thanks
Michael