Immaculate Conception

2024-02-24

The Immaculate Conception is a doctrine in some high denominations that states that Mary the mother of Jesus was free from sin. I am getting mixed messages whether this means acts of sin or having a sin nature. Whichever way you go, the doctrine cannot be defended by the Biblical texts. This teaching came after the age of the apostles was over. Let us look at the evidence.

Before proceeding, it is important to recall that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was without sin. He “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). I deal with that in another post elsewhere. However, this does not require that His relatives according to the flesh had to be sinless, because they all were.

In addition, before proceeding, we must emphasize that by saying that Mary was not sinless does not mean that any Christian despises Mary or wishes to denigrate her in any way. It is clear from the text that she was a godly woman who loved her Son. However, we also do not want to state something about her that is not in the teachings of the Bible.

First, the most common text that is quoted concerning Mary on this topic is in what is called the Magnificat: “And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour” (Luke 1:46-47). She needed God as her Savior like anybody else. If someone did not have the Savior, they would see their demise, whether it is we or any other person in human history. If God was not the Savior, she would lack hope like the rest of us.

However, one clearer example that I discovered was when Mary presented Jesus in the Temple when He was born:

And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (23) (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) (24) And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. (Luke 2:22-24)

First, Mary needed purification according to the Law in Luke 2:22. You do not purify something that is already pure. The word for purification is used for ceremonial purification elsewhere, and the context in Leviticus 12 describes this.

Let us consider Luke 2:24 next. What manner of sacrifice was this? Many point out that she offered a pair of birds because she was poor. This quite could be the case, but she was also out of town for the census, so it is hard to say. But we need to consider what type of sacrifice she offered. Luke 2:24 is a quotation from Leviticus 12:8. Let us look at this in context:

And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest: (7) Who shall offer it before the LORD, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath born a male or a female. (8) And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean. (Leviticus 12:6-8)

You see that this passage deals with the purifying of mothers after they have had a baby. The mother would bring a lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering according to Leviticus 12:6. Moreover, we see that if she cannot bring a lamb, she could bring birds instead, but still it is one animal for the burnt offering and one for the sin offering. Clearly, this states that the mother is offering a sin offering. Therefore, Mary offered a sin offering in the Temple.

What else do we observe? What is the purpose of this sin offering? Leviticus 12:7 tells us that the priest “shall offer it before the LORD, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood.” Therefore, Mary needed atonement, and the sacrifice yielded this atonement.

Now, we return to Luke 2:23: “As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.” This is a reference to Exodus 13:2, 12, 15; 34:19. But see the contrast: Jesus was “holy to the Lord” while His mother needed to offer a sin sacrifice for atonement. Do not miss this contrast in Luke 2:22-24, for it is intentional.

I don’t believe I am being dishonest with the text. We always need to stop and to think why we believe what we believe, and when I evaluate the situation on the sinlessness of Mary, this is evidence I see.

Does a sinless Savior require His mother according to the flesh to be sinless? It could never be, because all the seed of Adam is born in sin and we all start sinning very early on as a result. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).

Moreover, consider that plenty of other people in His family tree according to the flesh were seriously sinful. As far as women were concerned, Rahab the harlot (Matthew 1:5) and Bathsheba (Matthew 1:6) are both in Jesus’ family tree. The men in His genealogy were even worse; look no further than King Manasseh (Matthew 1:10). There is no theological problem with Mary not being completely “immaculate.”

Moreover, any titles given to Mary do not indicate that she was sinless. Saying Mary is “highly favoured” in Luke 1:28 does not do so, because as we discussed elsewhere, so is every believer, using the same word, according to Ephesians 1:6. Neither does the phrase “blessed art thou among women” indicate her sinlessness, because so was Jael: “Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent” (Judges 5:24).

However, this is the problem when we take our eyes off Christ and look at somebody or something else. We saw this in yesterday’s post concerning those who likened the Christ to a man like David. This view gave them a smaller picture of who Jesus really is.

Nobody wants to disrespect Mary, the mother of the Lord. She was indeed highly favored and blessed among women. However, there is no reason to elevate her above any other saint; the Scriptures do not warrant it.

Jesus Christ alone went to the cross to secure our salvation. All the wrath of God due our sin fell on Him. There is nobody else that can save us from sin and damnation. The matter of our salvation was settled nearly 2,000 years ago, knowing that we would be born sinners. It is only a matter of whether you can trust Him and not rely on these matters of the flesh. Jesus died for our sin, He rose again, and He settled the matter. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).