What Is The Immaculate Conception? Bible Answer and Importance

At the core of Christianity is the person of Jesus Christ. In my mind, all of Scripture comes down to what we do with Jesus. Each person has to either accept Him or reject Him. We learn the most about Jesus in the first four books of the New Testament. The four gospels give four different accounts (with many similarities) of the life and earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. These accounts include many direct quotes of Jesus and the one quote that the religious and political leaders had the biggest problem with was when Jesus claimed that He was God. The leaders during that time had trouble with other things that Jesus said but claiming to be God was blasphemy in their minds. I begin this article this way because ultimately what we do and what we believe about Jesus is of utmost importance to our eternal destinies.

The Immaculate Conception

One topic about Jesus that is highly debated down through the centuries is the virgin birth of Jesus. How did the God of heaven and earth come down to walk on this planet? Some people refer to this event and call it the Immaculate Conception. The words, “The Immaculate Conception,” seem to be understood in different ways depending on your religious upbringing. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception seems to have come out of the thought as to, “how can a sinless perfect person come out of (literally) a person that is a sinner?” The Roman Catholic Church basically looked at this question and believes that the Immaculate Conception is more about Mary than of Jesus. They reason that Jesus could not have been sinless and perfect (which, of course, He was) unless He was born of a woman that was also sinless and perfect. That Mary was immune from original sin and did not have a sin nature like the rest of us. An official statement of the doctrine reads, “The blessed Virgin Mary to have been, from the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Christ Jesus the Savior of Mankind, preserved free from all stain of original sin.”

I see no clear-cut passages that claim that Mary was sinless and perfect. The Bible teaches that there was only one sinless and perfect person and that is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Only Jesus is Sinless and Perfect

The problem with this is that it has no biblical basis. I see no clear-cut passages that claim that Mary was sinless and perfect. The Bible teaches that there was only one sinless and perfect person and that is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 1 Peter 2:22 (ESV) says, “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.” There are other passages that bear this out as well. But the simple fact is that we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. All others, (including the writer of this article) are sinners. The Bible is clear on that. Ecclesiastes 7:20 says, “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” Romans 3:10 affirms this in the New Testament and says, “as it is written: None is righteous, no, not one.” I could point to other Biblical texts that bear this out and the fact that we all need the shed blood of our Precious Saviour Jesus Christ because we are sinners.

Conclusion

In conclusion, when I read the pages of God’s Holy Word, I do not see anything that even remotely teaches that Mary was sinless, or had to be sinless for Jesus to also be sinless. The words of Scripture teach the exact opposite. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is not necessary for the teachings about Jesus to be true. Mary did not have to be perfect for Jesus to be perfect. If it was important for Mary to be perfect, then wouldn’t have Mary’s own mother needed to be perfect too. And Mary’s grandmother, and great grandmother, and so on down the line. That is a hard position to support intellectually or any other way. I am thankful that the Bible does teach about the miraculous virgin conception of Jesus. God choose to show favor on Mary. Luke 1:28 (ESV) says, “And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” This was not because God preserved Mary from all sin and a sin nature but because God choose to favor her. If you are reading this and either are Catholic or were raised that way, I ask you to humbly read the pages of the gospels with no preconceived notions and reevaluate your thoughts on this topic. I pray that this article does not come across as harsh but encourages you to take another look at the pages of Scripture and to make sure that we elevate Jesus Christ first and foremost in all of our teachings and everything we do.