Is Mary The Mother Of God?

C H U R C H   R E F O R M   S E R I E S

By Biblicism Institute

Mary was chosen by God the Father to carry His son Jesus.

“The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored (or full of grace)! The Lord is with you.’ ” Luke 1:28

The Nativity

Just because the Angel described Mary as “highly favored” or “full of grace” doesn’t make said representation anymore special than the hundreds of times the word favor or grace is used in the bible to describe other favored or graced ones.

“For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield.” Psalm 5:12

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…” Ephesians 2:8

The reproductive seed that was placed inside Mary was not human. It was divine.

“The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.'” Luke 1:35

Therefore, unlike all other humans born on this earth, Jesus was both man and God.

“…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…” Matthew 20:28

“And we know that the Son of God is come…” 1 John 5:20

BIOLOGICAL MOTHER

Jesus never called Mary “mother.“

“Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” John 2:4

“When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved (i.e. John), He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ ” John 19:26

That’s because Mary was the mother of the man in Jesus but not of the God in Him. The God in Jesus took precedence over His flesh. That’s why Jesus did not fear those who could kill His body but had no power over the God in Him.

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the spirit. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both spirit and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28

However, the combination of the two parts of Him – human body and divine spirit – made Jesus Lord.

“Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me?’ ” Luke 1: 41-43

Even though Mary was the biological mother of the Lord Jesus, she was not the Mother of God.

“God is the head of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:3

The Mother of God expression is not found in the bible no matter how much Elizabeth’s words “the mother of my Lord” are spun. The unfortunate use of that expression “Mother of God” somehow conveys that Mary is the one who brought God into existence in the Universe, when God is the one who created Mary in the first place. How she can be His mother is silly, to say the least, and places Mary above God Himself.

Those who utter such blasphemy are in fact twisting and adding to the confined and limited reality of Mary’s birth giving experience. What they are really selling is that when Mary gave birth to Jesus the man (and Jesus the God in Him), she actually brought God into existence (when God already existed).

It’s like saying that every mother who brings a child into this world is the one who creates and places the breath of God (or the spirit man) inside the child. Biological parents are not the authors of their children’s spirit men, much like Mary was not the author of Jesus the Spirit God. Women deliver the package, but they do not create it, especially the spirit part.

“It was You who formed my internal organs, fashioning me within my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13

“…and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” Ecclesiastes 12:7

Man’s biological nature will rot and disappear, but the spirit man created by God will endure forever.

HEAVENLY BODY

After Jesus rose from the dead, He was wearing a new body. Not even His disciples could recognize Him, unless He opened their eyes.

“At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.” John 20:14

“Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.” Luke 24:31

“There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies… It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever.” 1 Corinthians 15: 40,42

Consequently, the earthly biological side Mary passed to Jesus was immediately gone upon His resurrection. But given that Jesus was crafted from the very beginning with the Divine seed when He was born, He kept His paternal and heavenly side which bore the mark of His crucifixion.

“As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!” John 20:20

After His resurrection Jesus was and is now fully clothed with a heavenly body that is wholly and solely crafted by the Father Himself. It is a body that is independent of mankind’s current nature, and no longer endures the weaknesses of the flesh.

BIBLICALLY SPEAKING

Many Catholics and others wrongfully call Mary Our Mother because of the following passage.

“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’  Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” John 19:26,27

The reason Jesus said that to John, the disciple whom He loved, was so John could take care of Mary in her old age as if she were John’s own mother.

Jesus did not utter those words to mean that Mary was John’s literal mother, and nor are those words to be interpreted to mean that Mary had suddenly become the mother of us all. Jesus was talking to John not to us. That’s why immediately after, John wrote: “And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” John took her in to care for her. Period.

As per Old Testament’s laws the firstborn male was responsible to care for his parents, since he was given a double portion of inheritance. It was the right of the firstborn. And Jesus was Mary’s firstborn. So He made arrangement with John because He knew He wouldn’t be around to take care of her.

“He shall acknowledge… the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.” Deuteronomy 21:17

In addition, many Catholics and others wrongfully pray to Mary (and to many other “Saints“) as if she (they) could intercede or mediate on their behalf (click here to understand the meaning of the word “Saint” in the bible).

Biblically, we are commanded to only pray to God the Father, in the name of Jesus.

“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven…'” Matthew 6:9

“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” John 14: 13

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus…” 1 Timothy 2:5

The wrongly assumed Assumption of Mary

All who consider Mary to be divine (she’s not) believe she ascended to heaven without experiencing death, an event they call the Assumption.

However, there is no biblical record of such an astounding event.

Enoch and Elijah were both taken up to Heaven without suffering death, and yet the bible does not fail to mention such miraculous faits accomplis.

“Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”Genesis 5:24

Suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.” 2 Kings 2:11

Further, Mary never stayed a virgin. She had other children, Jesus’s half-brothers and half-sisters.

“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us?” Matthew 13:55

All those who harbor such unbiblical beliefs towards Mary need to wake up, adhere to the Word of God, and believe these man-made fables no more.

CONCLUSION

Mary was chosen by God to carry the infant Jesus.

That doesn’t make her any more special than all other true Christians who carry within them the Fire of the Holy Spirit. And those are themselves impregnated with Christ, much like Mary was.

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” 1 Corinthians 6:19

Carrying God within is the very great mystery of Christianity.

“If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.” Romans 8:10

How mere mortals can bear the divine inside their sinfully polluted bodies is the mark that a merciful God, in His unfathomable and abounding love, considers all equally worthy of the fullness of His grace.

In fact, such a gift is the guarantee of mankind’s eternal salvation and of his victory over sin and death.

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:27

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ADDENDUM

The Word Of God

No church organization is omniscient and infallible, including the Catholic church. See CHURCH REFORM for all the things the “Church” has gotten wrong.

Biblically, the church is the general assembly of all Christians.

“If I delay, you may know how one ought to behave with the family of God, which is the assembly of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.” 1 Timothy 3:15

The pillar is not more important than the truth. The role of the assembly is to carry forth the truth of the word of God as given by God. That’s why HE gifted us HIS word or His truth, which the Apostles set down in writing and can now be found in the BIBLE.

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.” 2 Timothy 3: 16

ONLY GOD is omniscient and infallible, and only His WORD is the final arbiter of the TRUTH. Therefore:

1) When choosing a bible, never buy one with commentaries. Let God Himself open the eyes of your understanding.

“The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints…” Ephesians 1:18

2) Be weary of those who use a single verse out of the bible to make a point, especially an intricate one. Anyone can use such a technique to validate whatever propagandist idea they’re selling.

Verses throughout the bible are not only immersed in context but interconnected as well, making the bible a living biosphere of divine thoughts and articulated words.

“For the word of God is alive and active.” Hebrews 4:12

At times, that interconnection makes many verses appear truncated and/or cryptic, which in turn could lead to misinterpretations. God purposely made it thus in order to conceal what He is saying. It’s His way of nudging us to investigate and connect His thoughts on the matter, which are scattered throughout the bible.

“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to investigate a matter.” Proverbs 25:2

We Christians are those “kings” in the above verse.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9

Kings <=> Royal Priesthood <=> Christians.

Can you see now the concealment and the connection?

3) The entire New Testament – including the Book of Revelation – was written prior to the Apocalypse of 70 AD and must be read with that context in mind in order to understand many of its passages.

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together… and so much the more, as you see the day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25

“I think that in view of the present distress…” 1 Corinthians 7:25

In addition, every prophecy in the bible has already been fulfilled, except for those concerning the end of the world. The last biblical prophecies that materialized occurred in and around 70 AD. As for the end of the world, read Where is Satan Now? for a look at how it will come about.

4) The bible is not only a historical and literary work, it is also a sacred writ intended to redress the sinful spirit of man. Therefore it can only be fully grasped by a regenerated spirit, which the Holy Spirit of God guides into all understanding. That’s why degenerated souls are at a loss to fully comprehend it, thus making and inventing all sorts of malicious theories about what the bible is and stands for.

5) The entirety of Scriptures is composed of 66 books by about 40 different writers of various backgrounds, who lived during a period of about 1,600 years. Yet, it presents one coherent message: God’s love for the world manifested in Jesus, the prophesied Messiah. And if you commit to reading three chapters daily, you should be able to go through the entire Bible in one year and discover said truth for yourself.

6) There are some words and verses that are badly translated from the Old Testament Hebrew and the New Testament Greek in all current available versions of the bible. Get acquainted with them here, that way you can make a mental rectification when you come upon them in your study of the word.

Of all the mistranslations the one that stands out the most is the word Jew, which is what is printed in all currently published bibles, instead of Judahite or Judean as it should be. However, in the 1985 New King James version, published by Thomas Nelson, Inc., there’s a glaring discrepancy:

“…the Judeans, who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are contrary to all men.” 1 Thessalonians 2:15

That’s the only place in that version where the word Ioudaios is rightly translated as Judean instead of the conspicuous word Jew.

Which prompts the following questions:

Did Jews bribe Thomas Nelson, Inc. to do it? If so, what did they stand to gain? And do the editors at Thomas Nelson, Inc. actually know that the word Jew is NOT in the bible?

All in all, it simply is deliberate manipulation. Because, simply put, the same Greek word Ioudaios is oddly translated two different ways in that version.

And the only place where it’s different is in that very uncomfortable and crucial verse where we are being led, like sheep to the slaughter, to envisage “Jews” (of today, of course) as not contrary to all men and not the killers of our Lord; while the “Judeans,” of the tribe of Judah, were the actual contrary ones who crucified the Lord and persecuted Christians.

Still, in other verses where the word Jew is maintained throughout, the Talmudic Rabbinists (aka Fake Hebrews or Jews) get to be seen as the Hebrews of old – a misappropriated appellation that is full of benefits for them, including the theft of Palestine to create modern-day Israel.

Consequently, yes, the editors at Thomas Nelson, Inc. do know that the Word Jew is NOT in the Bible, and yet they keep using it. Discover more Bad Translations.

Read also: Jesus was not a Jew

Read also: The War on Christianity