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DEFENDING THE BRIDE
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Defending the Glory of God, Article 13
“Mary is a sinner just like me!”
“We all have the same status in Heaven”
Dismantling Two More Protestant Zingers
“Mary is a sinner just like me.” True or False ?
It has been said that within every heresy there is a kernel of truth. Some of those truths are buried very deep within making them difficult to see. It is important to affirm that it is true that Mary was saved by the merits that were won for us by Jesus Christ.
Cultural Problems
Our culture does not focus on Jesus Christ. As a result many people have a problem with their self esteem. The World says that I have to affirm that I am just as good as any body else in order to have self respect. However, that would mean that I would have to be the best or equal to the best in the world.
Jesus Christ came to set us free from the world’s lies. As a Christian my self esteem is based on Jesus. And it is based on the fact that He loves me, even though he knows full well the sinner that I am, and He is calling me into full communion with His holy family and He makes that possible by the grace that He won by that perfect offering of His Divine self to God the Father on my, and your, behalf. As a result my self esteem is secure and Rock solid as long as I turn to Him. See
By being secure in my self esteem, I can have the strength to be honest and admit that I am not the best in the world. I can imitate Christ and choose a path of humility without truly making myself less than I truly am, for there is nothing nobler than following Christ.
Jesus calls us to a path of virtue. Freed from the desire to believe that I am better than I am, I can admit that there are others who are more virtuous than me because they have opened themselves up to more of God’s grace. Would it be honest to say that I am as virtuous and courageous as St. Paul ? [No]
“We all have the same status and the same place in Heaven”
Again, the world makes this lie tempting to believe. It denies that I have any responsibility to be the best that God wants me to be and to fully attain that which He enables me to be by the help of His grace. An examination of what the Bible teaches clearly dispels this tempting myth.
God is definitely fair and just, however we do not all equally open ourselves up to God’s grace. We do not all co-operate with it as willingly as we should. Even in our own lives there are times when we do better and there are times when we do worse. Since some of us have been more co-operative with God’s grace and so there is more of God’s grace within some than in others. We are not all equal in His eyes because of that. There are some who are greater and some who are less.
Matthew 5:19
“Therefore, whoever breaks one of
the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the
kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these
commandments will be called
greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:11-12
“Blessed
are you when they insult you and
persecute you and utter
every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, for your
reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted
the prophets who were before you.
Therefore, we will not all have the same reward in Heaven because we will no have all done the same things for God. We will not all have the same place in Heaven. Some of us will have a higher place in heaven than others will.
John 14:2
“In my Father’s house are
many mansions: if it were
not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for
you.”
This is because some will be more open to receiving God’s grace and acting in conjunction with it. God will reward us according to our conduct.
Matthew 16:27
“For the
Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct.”
Romans 2:5-6
“ … the
just judgment of God, who will repay everyone according to
his works”
1 Timothy 6:18-19
“Tell them to
do good, to be rich in good works,
to be generous, ready to share, thus
accumulating as treasure a good
foundation for the future, so as to win the life that
is true life.”
1 Peter 1:17
“Now if you invoke as
Father him who judges impartially
according to each one’s works, conduct yourselves
with reverence during the time of your sojourning”
Revelation 2:23
‘ … Thus shall all the churches come
to know that I am the searcher of hearts and minds and
that I will give each of you what
your works deserve.”
Revelation 14:13
“And I heard a voice from heaven
saying, ‘Write this: Blessed are
the dead who die in the Lord henceforth.’ ‘Blessed
indeed,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their
labors, for their deeds follow them!’
”
Revelation 20:12-13
“ I saw the dead, the great and the
lowly, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened.
Then another scroll was
opened, the book of life.
The dead were judged according to
their deeds, by what was written in the scrolls.”
Revelation 22:12
“Behold, I am coming soon. I bring
with me the recompense I will give to each according to his
deeds.
When James and John asked for special places in heaven, Jesus affirms that those places do exist, but that it is not His to grant. Human likes and dislikes are not the determining factor of who gets these special places of honor. Jesus’s Father in heaven who knows all and judges justly already knows who belongs there. Jesus goes on to say that the path to the higher places of heaven is to humble ourselves and to be the servant of others.
Matthew 20:23
“He said to them, ‘You will drink
my cup, but to sit at my right hand
and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for
those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.’ ”
Matthew 18:4
“Whoever humbles himself like this
child is the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus said “ … but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared.” Mark 10:40
Therefore, we will not all have the same place in heaven. As to why Mary has been awarded the special honor of being the Queen of Heaven please see the remaining teachings on Mary at this web site. Also please study on as to how Mary was saved from sin from the first moment for existence at her Immaculate Conception, made possible by a special gift of grace won for her by Jesus Christ.
Also, please consider reading Scott Hahn’ book on Mary, “Hail, Holy Queen : The Mother of God in the Word of God.”
Call St. Joseph Communications at Ph: 1-800-526-2151.
For the answers to more objections
concerning praying to Mary or the other Saints see
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