Do you remember the time when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray?
“And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. ” (Luke 11:1-2)
Did the Lord tell his disciples to pray “Our Mother which art in Heaven” or did he tell them to pray “Our Father which art in Heaven”? Can you find the Lord Jesus Christ ever telling his followers to pray a “Hail Mary” prayer? Can you ever find the Lord Jesus Christ encouraging his followers to build a shrine to his earthly mother Mary? Of course, you will not find any of this stuff in the scriptures, so why do people do these things? The bottom line is that they have accepted and believed the words of mere men (man-made tradition) over the scriptures (the Word of God). It is of the utmost importance that people search the scriptures for themselves, as the Bereans did so that they may know the truth that can set them free.
“And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:10-11)
When you place the words of mere men (man-made tradition), above the word of God, you are setting yourself up for spiritual deception, and the ultimate destruction of your very soul. I am writing here as a former Roman Catholic who was delivered out of the system of Roman Catholicism, and if you are a Roman Catholic I encourage you to leave that system also. I prayed my Hail Mary prayers like any other Roman Catholic would until the time that I was saved and born again of the Spirit of God in 1989. Here is one of the first scriptures that I learned regarding how to pray and who to pray to:
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” (1 Timothy 2:5)
The scriptures make it clear that there is only ONE mediator between God and men, and that is the person of Jesus Christ. There are no other mediators whom God will hear because Jesus is the one whom the Father sent down from Heaven above. Jesus Christ had the audacity to do things that only God could do because he was equal to the Father above. Here is a record of the time when Jesus healed a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years, and one day Jesus told the guy to take up his bed and walk, and that is exactly what the man did. That absolutely infuriated the enemies of Christ, and they let him know that in no uncertain terms.
“Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.” (John 5:12-18)
Did you notice the part where it said that the enemies of Jesus Christ sought to kill him because he made himself equal with God? There was another time when Jesus healed a man who was paralyzed, and once again the religious Jewish leaders were absolutely infuriated by what he did.
“And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.” (Luke 5:17-26)
Did you catch the part where the Jewish Pharisees became infuriated after Jesus Christ forgave the paralyzed man of his sins? They were correct in saying that only God could forgive sins, but they did not believe that Jesus Christ was equal to God, and that is why they were so angry at Christ. So what did Jesus do? Jesus basically told them that I am going to heal this man just to show you that I do have the power to forgive sins, (which only God can do) and that is exactly what he did! I say all of this so that I may point you to Jesus Christ alone. I want you to know that I have not prayed to Mary since the Lord saved my soul out of that gross and demonic deception. I am here to tell you that Jesus Christ is enough. If you are a Roman Catholic, you are reading this article by divine appointment and I encourage you to search the scriptures for yourself, to see if what I am preaching here today is true or not.
What does the Bible teach us about Mary, the mother of Jesus? That is the question of the hour. Was Mary a sinner like the rest of us? Is Mary the mother of God? Should my focus be on Mary or on Jesus Christ? Is the Roman Catholic version of Mary a DEMONIC counterfeit?
Was Mary A Sinner?
“And MARY said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in GOD MY SAVIOUR. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath holpen (helped) his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.” (Luke 1:46-56)
In the passage above we find Mary giving all the praise and glory to God because he regarded her low (humble )estate. Mary also rejoiced in God her Savior, and we know that only sinners need a Savior.
“As it is written, There is NONE righteous, no, NOT ONE:” (Romans 3:10)
“For ALL have SINNED, and come short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:23)
Mary also recognized the fact that the Lord was remembering the mercy that He had promised to Israel through Abraham and His seed (offspring).
The Lord chose this humble Jewish virgin to bring forth Jesus into the world. He would bring redemption to both Jew and Gentile.
“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” (Galatians 4:4-6)
The Lord came into this world at just the right time. The fact that Jesus would be born of a virgin was prophesied by Isaiah hundreds of years before the event actually happened!
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a VIRGIN shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)
The word Immanuel (or Emmanuel) means God with us, and that testifies to the deity of Jesus Christ. Jesus would come forth from the womb of this Jewish virgin because Mary was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. There were no human sexual relations between Mary and a man.
“And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. 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; (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) 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 2:21-24)
In the passage above, we are given further proof that Mary was a mere mortal like the rest of us. Mary observed the Jewish Law and she did exactly what that Law told her to do (see Leviticus 12:1-8). Mary was unclean for seven days and on the eighth day she brought Jesus to be physically circumcised, in accordance with Leviticus 12:2-3. Mary then continued in her days of purification (33 days) because that was what was required of her under the Jewish law (Leviticus 12:4). Mary then brought forth the required sacrifices as is written in the following scripture:
“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 12:8)
As recorded in Luke’s gospel account (Luke 2:24), Mary brought forth the offerings required in “the law of the Lord.” It is most important that you see that one of the offerings was for the burnt offering and the other one was for a SIN offering. Mary needed an ATONEMENT for her OWN SIN! It was AFTER the ATONEMENT that MARY was made CLEAN, which shows us that MARY was UNCLEAN prior to the ATONEMENT for her SIN! To declare that the Jewish virgin Mary was conceived without sin is to dispute and contradict scripture. So we may rightly conclude, that according to scripture, Mary was in fact a sinner. I was raised as a Roman Catholic so I formerly observed the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Roman Catholicism teaches that Mary herself was conceived without sin. In other words, they teach that she, like Jesus, was born sinless. I turned away from that false teaching.
Is Mary The Mother Of God?
It is obvious from the sections above that Mary cannot be described as the Mother of God, because that would make her deity or divine. Simply put God does not have a mother. The last time that we find Mary mentioned in the Bible is in the book of Acts:
“Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey. And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and MARY the mother of JESUS, and with his brethren.” (Acts 1:12-14)
Mary is listed in the passage above alongside the other followers of Jesus Christ. Here we find Mary in prayer and supplication along with everyone else. There is not even a hint that she held a position above anyone else in that upper room, nor is there a hint that any of them were praying to her. In the passage below we find a situation where Mary and other family members were outside a room where Jesus was preaching the word of God. Because of the large crowd they could not get inside:
“Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press. And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee. And he answered and said unto them, MY MOTHER and my brethren are these which HEAR the word of God, and DO it.” (Luke 8:19-21)
What did Jesus do when he was told about this? When Jesus was told about this, he told them that his mother and brethren were those who were inside the room listening to him preach the word of God. Why did Jesus make such a statement? He did this because he was showing the people the difference between the natural family and the spiritual family. Yes, Mary was outside. Yes, she was the natural mother of Jesus, but Jesus was showing the people that the spiritual family is what really counts. Jesus showed no partiality even when it came right down to his natural family on this earth. Jesus did not exalt his own mother above anyone else and we should follow that example also.
Should My Focus Be On Mary Or Jesus Christ?
It is rather interesting that the Roman Catholic doctrine regarding Mary mimics actual truth regarding Jesus Christ.
The Roman Catholic teaching known as The Immaculate Conception (Mary being conceived without sin) is a DEMONIC COUNTERFEIT of the sinlessness of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
The Roman Catholic teaching of The Assumption (Mary was raised into heaven without dying) is a DEMONIC COUNTERFEIT of the actual ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven. (Luke 24:50-53, Acts 1:8-11)
The Roman Catholic teaching of Mary being the Queen of Heaven is a DEMONIC COUNTERFEIT of Jesus Christ being the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! (Deuteronomy 10:17, Psalm 136:3, 1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17:14, 19:16)
The Roman Catholic teaching of Mary as a mediator (mediatrix) is a DEMONIC COUNTERFEIT of Jesus Christ being the one and only mediator for mankind! (1 Timothy 2:5)
I do not apologize for telling you that those teachings are not of God at all. They are demonic in origin and they are meant to divert a persons attention away from the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the only sinless human being to walk this earth. Jesus was the only person who could possibly atone for the sin of the world and that is what he did when he shed his sinless blood upon the cross. Peace has been made through the blood of the cross and a person can be reconciled back to God because of what Christ has done on the cross. (Colossians 2:14, 20, Romans 5:6-10) Jesus Christ rose from the dead and he ascended into heaven where he is reigning NOW as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. (Revelation 17:14, 19:16) After he rose from the dead he told his disciples that ALL power has been given unto him in heaven and earth, and if that does not speak of power and authority then nothing does. (Matthew 28:18-20)
I cannot overemphasize the truth that there is absolutely no hope outside of the person of Jesus Christ. Eternal life is in the Son and Mary has absolutely nothing to do with the salvation of any soul. Satan will do anything that he can do to divert your attention away from the only one who can save your soul, and that is Jesus Christ.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the GIFT of GOD is eternal life through JESUS CHRIST our LORD.” (Romans 6:23)
“And this is the record, that GOD hath given to us ETERNAL LIFE, and this life is in his SON. He that hath the SON hath LIFE; and he that hath not the SON of GOD hath not LIFE.” (1 John 5:11-12)
“And we know that the SON of GOD is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his SON JESUS CHRIST. This is the true GOD, and ETERNAL LIFE.” (1 John 5:20)