To offset the tragic departure of this thread and its purpose, to castagate aspursions by proxy upon the RCC, so as to invalidate the scriptures concerning the mother of Jesus, and deny she was highly favored and in the grace of God, and so as to instead insist Mary was sin filled, and that to that end God would choose a sinner to deliver Himself to the world, I thought I'd share what Paul said about God's grace. So that the attempt to conflate Paul's saying there is no one righteous not even one, indicted Mary as well, is put into proper context.
The Saint Apostle Paul's letter (epistle) to the church in Ephesus. Ephesians chapter 1.
Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful[
a] in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Spiritual Blessings in Christ
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us[
b] for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known[c] to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Footnotes
- Ephesians 1:1 Some manuscripts saints who are also faithful (omitting in Ephesus)
- Ephesians 1:5 Or before him in love, 5having predestined us
- Ephesians 1:9 Or he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known…
- Ephesians 1:14 Or down payment
- Ephesians 1:14 Or until God redeems his possession
- Ephesians 1:15 Some manuscripts omit your love
Mary was highly favored by God. God's grace was with her, and so too was our Lord, which we cannot forget is told us in the Book of Luke chapter 1.
Another thing the Christian's who decide to participate in this thread may wish to consider in the OP's manner of arguing against God favoring Mary with His grace. When He argues using Paul's statement that “There is no one righteous, not even one", The Book of Romans chapter 3 verse 10, then in order to remain consistent with his casting the sinner label on God's highlyl favored Mary who was in His grace, the OP would also have to charge that Emmanuel/Jesus was a sinner too.
Since He insists God, who was Emmanuel/Jesus, carried in Mary's womb was carried there in the womb of a sinner, she would then not at all be in God's grace, because God's grace is what Saves! God's grace is what led to Him arriving on earth to deliver that new covenant of grace. A covenant made between God and humanity.
"...This is called a Covenant of Grace because it is initiated by God, due to no part and worthiness of man, and is unmerited favor received from God.
In this covenant, Jesus would become man (
John 1:1,
18;
Heb. 2:9), be the
mediator of a better covenant (
Heb. 8:6), and being under the
Law (
Gal. 4:4) fulfills the Law perfectly (
1 Pet. 2:22). Therefore, the righteousness accomplished by Christ is given to the believer so that he has the righteousness that is not his own, but that of Christ (
Phil. 3:9). The believer's responsibility is to have faith in the work of Christ (
Rom. 5:1;
Eph. 2:8-9), a righteousness derived in the New Testament times by faith, just as it was in the Old Testament times (
Rom. 4:1-11).
The manifestation of the Covenant of Grace was progressively disclosed. It began in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve sinned and God promised a redeemer (
Gen. 3:15), to Abraham the promise to bless the nations (
Gen. 12:2-3), the covenant of the Ten Commandments given to the Israelites at Mount Sinai (
Exodus 34:28), and believers in the New Covenant (
Jer. 31:31-37) which is fulfilled in Christ (
1 Cor. 11:25). "
Source/more reading: What is the Covenant of Grace?
God would let Himself be born of a condemned sinner? Then highly favored God's grace would mean nothing, if Mary wasn't grace filled, and by that we mean, cleansed of her sins by God's favor, shown her first because He was to show the world His grace through her.
I checked. This isn't the first time long time members here have been exposed to such a thread question.
Was Mother Mary Sinless and thus disobeys Romans 3:23 Thread starter
shamariel Start date
Jun 4, 2017
It's good to witness the effort the world makes in sending into the church of Christ false teaches, believers, through no fault of their own, and those who purposefully set out to mock and blaspheme God's words. It keeps us on our toes and leads us to study more so as to rebuke the errant and those on the Devil's errand.
God's Blessings to All His People here.