Was the Blessed Mother sinless?

In my last column, we looked at the Scriptural evidence for the Immaculate Conception, while noting the objections some people have still needed to be addressed.

Some claim the Immaculate Conception dogma implies that Mary did not need a saviour. But such a perspective greatly misunderstands this teaching. A person can be saved from a pit (in this case, the pit of original sin) either by being pulled out after falling in, or by being prevented from falling in in the first place, as Mary was. But in both cases, it is God who positively acts and is the saviour.

St. Jude testifies to this concept beautifully when he writes: “Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with rejoicing …” (Jude 1:24-25).

This quote also leads us perfectly to our final, most significant objection: that Mary committed no personal sins during her earthly life.

Recall from my previous article that the dogma of the Immaculate Conception teaches that Mary’s soul was filled with sanctifying grace by God right from the moment of her conception. And this is certainly not some new, unscriptural concept, because Adam and Eve were created in just the same way.

But a consequence of this was a soul and human nature preserved from original sin and its stain of concupiscence – that tendency of our fallen human nature toward sin. This resulted in a nature perfectly ordered towards God’s will. By the grace of God, this harmony of Mary’s will, with God’s, lead her freely to a life untouched by personal sin (recall that, simply put, sin happens when we choose our will in opposition to God’s).

But “all have sinned,” Romans 3:23 clearly says! This is St. Paul emphasizing a general principle, and he is not intending this verse to be taken literally. How do we know? Because there are obvious exceptions to this statement, which he notes in other places. For example, Jesus has not sinned: “Christ was tempted in all points even as we are and yet he was without sin” (Heb 4:15). And neither have babies, young children, or others not fully able to reason and discern wrong and right. St Paul alludes to this in Romans 9:11 when he speaks of Jacob and Esau as unborn babies that “had done nothing either good or bad.”

So often, we hear that to sin is human, as if we have no choice in the matter – that sin is an inevitable consequence of being human. But sin does not make us more human, but less! We are made in the image and likeness of God, “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24). Again, Adam and Eve were also created in perfect friendship with God – free from original sin, their souls infused with sanctifying grace. They were meant to spend eternity this way – to never sin and to never die. So is there a biblical foundation to the concept of earthly sinlessness? Absolutely! It was the original plan!

Does God ever want us to sin? No! He may permit it. He may even test us. But he always provides sufficient grace in every situation to avoid sin (1 Cor 10:13). What God wants is our holiness: to be perfect, without sin.

Looking to Scripture, over and over we see that this is exactly what God calls us to. In Matthew 5:48 Jesus exhorts us to “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” St. Paul calls for the same in 1 Thes 5:23-24: “May … God… himself make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” emphasizing that “the one who calls you is faithful, and he will also accomplish it”!

Similarly, Hebrews 12:14 calls us to “strive for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” And Revelation 21:27 powerfully reminds us that “nothing unclean shall enter” heaven.

Some may reply that holiness is one thing, but sinlessness is something else. But when we examine Scripture specifically with regard to sinlessness, we see that this is exactly what is called for and expected for those who follow or “remain in” God: to be “perfectly holy” (1 Thes 5:23).

In 1 John 3:6-10 is a particularly striking example of this. Echoing the great promise in Genesis 3:15 of the “woman” (Mary) and “her seed” (Jesus) crushing Satan’s head, these verses clearly distinguish between the children of God and the devil, implying that God’s children/seed – and in this context, Mary and Jesus are preeminent – do not sin: “No one who remains in him sins … Whoever sins belongs to the devil … No one who is begotten by God commits sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot sin because he is begotten by God. In this way, the children of God and the children of the devil are made plain.”

This principle is reemphasized in 1 John 5:18, insisting that “anyone born of God does not sin, but he (Jesus) who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him”. This is a beautiful, scriptural picture of the protection given Mary by her son during her earthly life – sinlessness – by the grace of God.

Each one of us receives sufficient grace in every situation to choose not to sin, just as Mary did. “No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it” (1 Cor 10:13).