Answer: Many
people mistakenly believe that the
immaculate conception refers to the
conception of Jesus Christ. Jesus’
conception was most assuredly immaculate…but
this concept does not refer to Jesus at all.
The immaculate conception is a doctrine of
the Romans Catholic Church in regards to
Mary, Jesus’ mother. 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.” Essentially the immaculate
conception is the belief that Mary was
protected from original sin, that Mary did
not have a sin nature, and was, in fact,
sinless.
The problem with the doctrine of the
immaculate conception is that it is not
taught in the Bible. The Bible nowhere
describes Mary as anything but an ordinary
human female whom God chose to be the mother
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mary was
undoubtedly a godly woman (Luke 1:28). Mary
was surely a wonderful wife and mother.
Jesus definitely loved and cherished His
mother (John 19:27). The Bible gives us no
reason to believe that Mary was sinless. In
fact, the Bible gives us every reason to
believe that Jesus Christ is the only Person
who was not “infected” by sin and never
committed a sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans
3:23; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22; 1
John 3:5).
The doctrine of the immaculate conception
originated out of confusion over how Jesus
Christ could be born sinless if He was
conceived inside of a sinful human female.
The thought was that Jesus would have
inherited a sinful nature from Mary had she
been a sinner. In contrast to the immaculate
conception, the Biblical solution to this
problem is understanding that Jesus Himself
was miraculously protected from being
polluted by sin while He was inside Mary's
womb. If God was capable of protecting Mary
from sin, would He not be able to protect
Jesus from sin? Therefore, Mary being
sinless is neither necessary or Biblical.
The Roman Catholic Church argues that the
immaculate conception is necessary because
without it, Jesus would have been the object
of His own grace. The thought goes like this
– for Jesus to have been miraculously
preserved from sin, which itself would be an
act of grace, that would mean God
essentially “graced Himself.” The word grace
means “unmerited favor.” Grace is giving
someone something he or she does not
deserve. God performing a miracle in
preserving Jesus from sin is not “grace.” In
no sense could Jesus possibly be infected
with sin. He was perfect and sinless
humanity joined with sinless divinity. God
cannot be infected or affected by sin, as He
is perfectly holy. This same truth applies
to Jesus. It did not take “grace” to protect
Jesus from sin. Being God incarnate, Jesus
was in His essence “immune” from sin.
So, the doctrine of the immaculate
conception is neither Biblical or necessary.
Jesus was miraculously conceived inside
Mary, who was a virgin at the time. That is
the Biblical concept of the virgin birth.
The Bible does not even hint that there was
anything significant about Mary’s
conception. If we examine this concept
logically, Mary’s mother would have to be
immaculately conceived as well. How could
Mary be conceived without sin if her mother
was sinful? The same would have to be said
of Mary’s grandmother, great-grandmother,
and so on. So, in conclusion, the immaculate
conception is not a Biblical teaching. The
Bible teaches the miraculous virgin
conception of Jesus Christ, not the
immaculate conception of Mary.