Mother’s Day and Mary the Mother of Jesus Christ

Posted by Derek


Mother’s day is a great day that we have the privilege to elevate and honor our mothers. It falls both within the 10 commandments and Proverbs 31:28-29.

Her children rise up and bless her;
Her husband also, and he praises her, saying:
“Many daughters have done nobly,
But you excel them all.

Within Christendom, some would also like to turn and bless Mary the earthly mother of Jesus Christ. Just turn to any social media channel and you will find statements like:

Hail Mary
Full of Grace.
The Lord is with thee
Blessed art thou among women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus

Should we celebrate Mary as the mother of God and recognize the title Queen of Heaven as the Catholic catechism says? The answer is no.

Isaiah 42:8 explicit states:

“I am the Lord – that is My Name – AND MY GLORY I WILL NOT GIVE TO ANOTHER, nor My praise to idols.

The LORD God in no way shares His glory and praise with another. Not even with Mary. But what about the teaching that her being sinless like Jesus?

The view of Mary as sinless comes from a declaration from Pope Pius IX in 1854. The doctrine also teaches that she has since the beginning has been without sin. The Bible has no teaching on this and cannot be found unless you twist the scripture. Mary’s own testimony assert that she is need of a savior.

“My soul exalts the Lord,
“And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
“For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;
For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed

Mary’s assertions are correct in that all generations will call her blessed. But she is need of a savior. Her position is, like you and me, the humble state of a bondslave. The word bondslave is the word doulos which translated as a slave of God. Her statement along with the absence of any other clear statement from Scripture affirms that this teaching is false. The state of everyone in time and history is that of sinful mankind.

The scripture clearly states that all are under sin:

…for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God Romans 3:22-23

And

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned Romans 5:12

Paul, a chief Pharisee and teacher of law, would have had ample opportunity to mention Mary’s sinlessness. But it was absent from any teaching from any of the scriptures and the other teachings of the apostles. Also, this would have been blaspheme in the mind of the Jew. Instead, Paul teaches that all mankind is under sin. No one escapes this judgment, not even Mary.

The late introduction of the doctrine of Mary’s sinlessness and the absence of its teaching in scripture show that this is error. God, who does not share His glory with another further affirms that Mary’s elevation to co-mediatrix and queen of heaven is heresy. Let us instead worship the Lord God, honor our mothers, and remember Mary as God’s chosen servant for bearing Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Pope Visits Auschwitz and Writes Something Shocking

Posted by Derek

auschwitz

During a visit to Auschwitz, Pope Francis wrote in the visitor log:”Lord, have mercy on your people Lord, sorry for such cruelty.” This statement is certainly problematic and requires some explanation. What did the Pope mean by this statement? There are some significant problems with the Pope’s prayer. Let’s examine them.

The problem with this statement is that Hitler grew up Catholic from a practicing mother who would take him to mass. Adolf Hitler stopped taking mass after his childhood and more than likely would not consider himself Catholic. Where I have outright concern is that this “prayer” would imply that God’s people were responsible for the genocide that occurred. Murder is a sin found in Exodus 20:13 and according to Catholic doctrine, an unpardonable sin according to . So would the implication of such a prayer be from the head of horrendous atrocities be Catholic? Even if he wasn’t perhaps there were some that were Catholic and at the forefront of such egregious sins.

The reality is that those who are true followers of Christ would not have participated in the genocide that occurred at Auschwitz. In fact, Jesus expounding the law of God said, “You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.” It’s not just murder but hate will take us there according to Jesus. All you have to do is look at the end of Revelations and find that those who are murders, among other sins, are cast into the lake of fire.

Whatever the Pope’s purpose in writing those words were, they certainly weren’t founded in Scripture. The Bible says such were some of you in 1 Corinthians 6:11. The fact that some can be forgiven of murder or any sin is true but not to the extent that we might say some who lived such evil lives without true repentance would be forgiven. The apostle Paul was a murderer of Christians and yet he found faith and forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Repentant, he no longer committed such sins but became a confessor of Jesus Christ. Those who were proponents of Auschwitz would have to walk with repentance before God.

This leads me to ask, are you forgiven of your sins. The Bible says, blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven. It is God who forgives sins to those who trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We cannot add any work for our salvation (Romans 4:4) and even faith is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-10). I pray that would look to Jesus Christ in faith, believe that he died and rose from the dead, and confess him as Lord and you shall be saved (Romans 10:9,10).