TRADITION: Mary is the Mediatrix between God and Man
TRUTH: Jesus is
the Mediator between God and Man
The traditional teaching of the Catholic church says that Mary is the mediatrix that man must go through to reach the God of heaven. This same tradition concerning Mary also says she is the 'mother of God', the 'door to heaven', the 'keeper of souls', she is 'sinless', was 'taken up bodily to heaven without dying' and she is the one who must be 'addressed in prayer'! Let us examine the unchanging and inerrant Word of God from which all Christian practice and doctrine must be taken.
First of all, the Scripture tells us in no uncertain terms "For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus" (I Timothy 2:5). This definitive statement should end all logical arguments about who is our Mediator. In addition Hebrews 7:25 underlines this vital truth: "Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost, that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them."(Hebrews 7:25) Jesus, and He alone, is our Mediator in heaven seated by the right hand of God!
Secondly, if Mary was the 'mother of God' she would be before Him, but we know by the truth of the Word of God that Jesus was 'before all things' (Colossians 1:17) not Mary! Mary was merely the yielded vessel God used to bring His Son Jesus into the world by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). Jesus never called her mother although He addressed her personally in the Scriptures on two occasions (John 2:4; 19:26).
She is also called the 'door to heaven' by the Catholic church, but, in John 10:9 Jesus says: "I am the Door, by Me if any man enter in he shall be saved, and shall go in and out , and find pasture." Here again the Scripture puts to silence any claim on the part of man to build a doctrine on any other person or way into heaven. "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no man cometh unto the Father but by Me" Jesus proclaims in John 14:6. Only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ can any man go through the 'door of heaven' and enter the kingdom of God.
The 'keeper of souls' is another false title given to Mary by Catholic tradition. However, this too is soundly refuted by the infallible Word of God in II Timothy 1:12: "I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day". Jesus also gives the born-again-the-Bible-way believer comfort in knowing that we are safe in His hand: "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave them Me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand." (John 10:28,29) Peter emphasizes this marvelous truth when he writes to the saints: "Who are kept by the power of God" (I Peter 1:5) indicating the true Keeper of the souls of men!
That Mary was 'sinless' denies her own testimony when she proclaimed God as her Saviour in Luke 1:47. If she was sinless there would be no need for a Saviour, no need for forgiveness, no need for salvation, but if she in fact needed to be saved from the penalty of sin as all men do, 'for all have sinned' (Romans 3:23) then her statement in Luke 1 shows her own heart's confession of being saved by faith realizing God was indeed her Saviour!
The traditional Catholic doctrine of Mary being 'taken up bodily into heaven' known as the 'Assumption of Mary' was instituted in 1950 and has no foundation in the Word of God. If this miraculous event really took place, it surely would have been mentioned in the record of the Bible, however, the last mention of Mary in Scripture is in Acts 1:14 when she was probably in her late forties or early fifties, among the 120 followers, obeying the command to 'wait for the promise of the Father' given by her God and Saviour,the Lord Jesus Christ. Even though the Apostles continued to write for sixty more years, during which time Mary probably died, she is never again mentioned in the Bible, neither is her supposed 'assumption' found in the writings of any historian, nor the early church fathers.
The last and one of the most crucial errors in Catholic teaching concerning Mary is that she must be 'addressed in prayer' for without praying in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we have no access to God! Jesus told the eleven disciples the night before He was crucified three different times to 'ask in My name' in order for God to answer and act on their part! (John 14:13,14; 15:16; 16:23,24) This very significant teaching of Christ was a new doctrine introduced that night by the Lord Jesus: "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name; ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." (John 16:24) All that the child of God needs is found in the Lord Jesus Christ! Asking in His name is one of the most vital areas of importance to every one who is born-again the Bible way (John 3:1-16)!