The Sin of Praying to Mary
Genesis 3:13-15 says: “And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
Note that it was the seed of the woman who would bruise the serpent’s head; not the woman.
Matthew 1:18-23: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily (secretly). But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us (that’s from Isaiah 7:14).”
Jesus shall save His people from their sins; not Mary.
By the way: Did Mary need to be saved from her sins too? Yes. And not only because she potentially could have sinned, but also because she had sinned as well. Otherwise, she would not have offered a sin offering for herself at the Temple when she presented Jesus there.
Luke 2:21-24: “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.”
Look then at what the Law of the Lord says about this offering. Look what it prescribes in this situation.
Leviticus 12:6-8: “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: 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. And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles (turtledoves), 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.”
Mary obviously offered a sin offering then for herself at the Temple.
Note that Jesus offered Himself as a sin offering for sinners. He was able to do this, and thereby bruise the Serpent’s head, because He was the Perfect Lamb of God who never sinned. He never had to offer a sin offering for Himself. Not so with Mary.
Her offering a sin offering for herself was her own testimony that she was not immaculate and had rather sinned like all other people have.
The last time where we read of Mary in the Bible is in Acts 1:13-14 where she is mentioned as a disciple of Jesus who is praying with other disciples of His.
Acts 1:13-14: “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.”
Never in the rest of the Bible is Mary mentioned by name again nor is there ever teaching in the Bible about the need (nor even the possibility) of obtaining Mary’s intercession in order to be in God’s grace.
Ephesians 3:14-15: “For this cause I (the Apostle Paul is speaking) bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named…”
2 Corinthians 13:13-14: “All the saints salute you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.”
Neither Mary nor any so-called saint is involved in the Christian’s fellowship with God.
Note also here that the Bible regards saints as living people who are holy and righteous but who are otherwise regular people; not certain allegedly special dead people who have been canonized by a church.
Romans 1:1-5: “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made 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: By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name…”
The Gospel is concerning no one else nor is it for anyone else’s name.
1 Peter 3:18: “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened (made alive) by the (Holy) Spirit…”
Philippians 2:8-11: “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Therefore, we must deal with Him to have access to the Father and favor with the Father.
Many say that we ought to deal with Mary for access and favor with Jesus. Yet that is against what the Bible instructs and commands.
The “Jesus” that false concept of Mary leads to is not the real Jesus of the Bible.
1 John 2:1-4: “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation (atonement) for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
1 Timothy 2:5-6: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”
This verse practically means absolutely nothing to those who pray to Mary.
It is a form of humanistic, feel-good false religion to imagine that there is a sympathetic mother in heaven whom we can make our pleas to and thereby obtain favor with God.
There is no way that anyone’s intercession with Jesus could ever even accomplish anything unless they hoped that Jesus could be persuaded to change the terms of His Gospel and thereby be manipulated to heed anyone contrary to those terms.
Jesus is surely not going to refuse anyone who comes on His terms.
Isaiah 1:16-18: “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
Isaiah 55:6-7 (remember that the Book of Isaiah preaches the Gospel): Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah 66:1-2: “Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”
Jesus is more than enough to justify the person who comes to Him through the narrow gate of true repentance and obedient faith in Him to walk in His narrow way of truth which leads to eternal life. Mary nor any other so-called saint couldn’t help anyone otherwise.
When the Bible says “there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” that is what it means.
There are several churches and many individuals who claim otherwise. The Book of Isaiah also has something to say regarding these claims and those who make them.
Isaiah 8:20: “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
The Bible does not teach that Mary is the mother of God.
It rather teaches that Mary was Jesus’ earthly mother. The point of significance in Jesus’ life which makes this distinction crystal clear is His baptism.
Jesus was of course baptized. This was obviously not as a repentant sinner (as it ought to be with us). For Jesus, His baptism was a statement of His departure from His father’s household in order to be fully separated for, and fully enter into, public ministry.
We see how in Luke 2:51 Jesus was subject to His parents growing up in Nazareth.
Yet in John 2:1-5, after Jesus’ baptism, it is a different situation.
John 2:1-5: “And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted (lacked) wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.”
Jesus of course did turn the water into wine, yet His words to His mother “Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come” make it clear that He didn’t do it because she wanted Him to. He was rather living directly under His Father in heaven now.
Mary’s requests towards Jesus thus ceased to be binding upon Him when He entered into public ministry.
Matthew 12:46-50: “While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
This shows that Mary’s relationship to Jesus as His disciple had already become greater than her relationship to Him as His mother. Nevertheless, He did not forsake His duties towards her- which is why He arranged for His disciple John to take her into his home when He was on the cross (see John 19:26-27).
After that point, we only read about Mary the mother of Jesus praying alongside His other disciples (as we saw from Acts 1:13-14). She was of course still known by others on earth as His mother in terms of human relationship.
I challenge you to read through the Book of Revelation, with all of the prayer and praise which it features to the Father and the Son in heaven, and see if you can find one reference to Mary being prayed to, praised, or adored in heaven.
You can’t- since such things are not there. They are not there because they are not happening.
As much as Roman Catholics and certain others insist that they do not worship Mary, by praying to her and praising her like they do, that is exactly what they are doing.
Praying to an entity is ascribing God-like powers to it.
Praising is a form of sacrifice. Sacrifice to an entity implies worship of that enmity.
Don’t be carried away with this wickedness.
Isaiah 50:10-11: “Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.”
Hebrews 13:15: “By him (that is, Jesus) therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”
That is not even taking into account the statues and the kneeling before them present in the Roman Catholic Church and other churches. They claim that such is not idolatry. Yet the Bible says that it is. The Catholic Church removed the 2nd commandment from the Bible for a reason. Bowing before a statue is inherently idolatrous.
Aaron’s email is: [email protected]
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