| Does Mary have any part in our salvation? |
| If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Jesus The Holy Bible John 14:23 |
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Is she a co-redeemer with Christ? |
Then Jesus came to them and said "All authority in heaven and on earth has bee given to me". Matthew 28:17-18. Here Jesus is saying that ALL authority has been given to him by God! This authority is not shared with Mary or any of the saints or anyone else. He does not need to confer or take the opinion of anyone else in heaven or on earth. If there is any place where he would want the record to be clear, it would be in his Bible. But, there is no place in the Bible where Jesus even refers to Mary as his mother. This was intentional and done for a reason -- so that no one can be led to think that Jesus is giving her any special status. She was the vessel used by God but Jesus gave her no special designation. Let’s look at the story of wedding feast where Mary goes to Jesus to tell him they have run out of wine and Jesus responds “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” . . “My time has not yet come.” John 2:4 and Mary defers to Jesus and says “Do whatever He tells you.” John 2:5. Here was his chance to confirm in public about Mary but he doesn't do it. He simply refers to her as “Dear woman”. The Catholics will also use the Bible quote “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!. (Luke 1:42) to draw the conclusion that Mary is worthy of our prayers. That is a far stretch to what the Bible says about Jesus and God himself. If we follow this reasoning, then we could use similar verses to justify praying to Abraham, Rebekah, and Issac… • and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High Genesis 14:19 • And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands. Genesis 24:60 • Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him There are many more accounts of people and prophets in the Bible that are told they are blessed by God and that still does not make them deity. The Bible quote at the top of this page goes further to say “He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own: they belong to the Father who sent me” John 14:24. Therefore, being in the truth of God’s word and his plan is linked to whether you love Jesus. If you love me he says, you will obey my teaching. I think of another passage of scripture where Jesus is again talking with his disciples and he makes it clear that there is no grey area when it comes to him. “Whoever is not with me is against me” Matthew 12:30. If you are on the fence in this issue, then by default, while you are deliberating, you are in the category of not being with Jesus but against him. It really is an issue of whom you will chose to worship and whom you will serve. The prophet Joshua said in the old testament: “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15 When we chose to pray to anyone else either on earth or in Heaven besides God, what we have done is chosen for our self an idol in place of God. This goes against the second commandment which says -- You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:4-6 Catholics will say that they only pray to Mary so she can then speak on our behalf to Jesus and/or God. There simply is no need for that since Jesus says that he and God will make their home with you and there will be the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” John 14:23 We therefore, have a direct connection to God by his Son Jesus. And with regard to the Holy Spirit Jesus says "And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever -- the Spirit of truth." John 14:16 There is no need to have Mary or anyone else in Heaven or on the earth to be a mediator between God and man. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 2:5 The outline below covers in more detail how Mary is viewed in the Catholic church and a biblical response of how Jesus was born of a woman but not be tainted by our human sin. IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF MARY (Pope Plus IX) 1854 AD Mary had been established as “Mother of God in 451, then prayers were directed to her in 600. Now 1200 years later, a pope decided that since she was the Mother of God and Mother of Jesus, she must have been born herself without sin. The doctrine of the “Immaculate Conception” teaches that Mary herself was born without sin, that from the very first moment of her existence she was free from the taint of the original sin. The original decree that set forth this doctrine was issued by Pope Pius IX, on December 8, 1854 as reads: • “We declare, pronounce and define that the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, at the first instant of her conception was preserved immaculate from all stain of original sin, by the singular grace and privilege of the Omnipotent God, in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind, and that this doctrine was revealed by God, and therefore must be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.” (From the papal bull, Ineffabilus Deus.) Ask a Catholic about the Immaculate Conception and most will answer this was about Jesus. But their church teaches different. It is a holdover from the Babylonian teaching of mother and child. The progression has been to move Mary ahead of Jesus and now most view her as co-redeemer. Why do Catholics tolerate this? Mary knew she needed a Savior, we can see this by reading Luke 1:46 “And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” The Biblical Response to The Virgin Birth The Virgin Birth of Mary is not biblical for it puts Mary on an equal footing with Jesus as the Bible tells us “that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “And to Jacob was born Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. (Matt. 1:16) Stop there and let me give a little Greek lesson. A. When God - gave us the New Testament – it was originally written in Greek. B. In the Greek language words are given in genders…. (1) Masculine, Féminine or Neutre. (2) This is helpful in understanding this passage… • Because the phrase (of whom) is • EK HASE in Greek and is Feminine in gender • Referring not Joseph – but to Mary. Don’t Miss That: For in verse15, Matthew traces Jesus genealogy -thru the Fathers A. Abraham. Isaac, Jacob Judah – are mentioned B. But -------- when He gets to verse 16 (1) He jumps -- over Joseph (2) And says Jesus was born of Mary! C In fact, the phrase, (of whom) • EK in the Greek -- means "Out From" which means Jesus came "out from" ---- Mary! Say: Why does the genealogy skip over Joseph? Because: Joseph --- did not impregnate Mary! Joseph had no part – in Jesus’ conception. a. God took the ovum of Christ – and implanted it in Mary b. And Joseph’s sperm --- did not contact that Divine seed. c. Joseph’s sperm --- never penetrated that Divine ovum – never i. And Scripture --- makes sure we grasp that. ii. By jumping - over Joseph and pointing only to Mary as one who delivered Jesus. d. So Mary’s blood --- never entered Jesus. It wasn’t her ovum e. And Joseph’s blood - never entered Jesus. If the ovum - that became Jesus had come from Mary –-- it would have had Mary’s blood inside Jesus would then have had -- human blood in His body. (1) But the ovum that became Jesus -- did not come from Mary (2) It was placed inside Mary from God Beyond that: If Joseph’s sperm had fertilized that egg that came from God, then Joseph’s blood --- would have been passed into the egg and into Jesus' veins Either way: Jesus would have had sin tainted blood in his veins • And He would have been --just as cursed with sin … as we are • Bible says at the moment we’re conceived we’re already infected with sin. We don't become sinners We are --- conceived as sinners Why? Because the: • Female ovum – has sin tainted blood in it • Male Sperm ---- has sin tainted blood in it This defeats two serious erroneous doctrines of the Catholic Church. This is not just a simple doctrinal error; your eternal life is at stake if you fall for this Babylonian teaching of the Catholic Church which teaches: (1) That the Immaculate Conception was of Mary – No – she was born with sin or God lied. (2) That Mary is the mother of God. No! She was the vessel used by God. (3) That we should pray to Mary. No! That makes her an idol. (4) That Mary can forgive sins. No! Her body is still in the grave. Mary was blessed of God, but she is not deity. Therefore, the question of whether Mary, or any other being, has the ability to save you is answered once again by Jesus when he says in the book of Revelation "I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." Rev 1:18 Jesus is saying that he has the keys, the power and authority and his statement also is saying that since he has the keys, no one else does. Why not go directly to the source of eternal life? Go directly to Jesus! He is waiting for you to have the abundant life that he came to provide for you. "...I have come that they may have life and have it to the full". John 10:10 |