Was Mary Immaculately Conceived?

We're  looking at certain events connected with the birth of our LORD Jesus Christ. As noted above, he was circumcised on the first day after the first week, the eighth day. With this sign he began his life as a chosen member of the chosen race. And he carries the sign of his Father's choosing in his body forever.

His virgin mother Mary, as a member of that chosen people, was required to fulfill another command. Luke records that event in this way:

And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord") and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons." - Luk 2:22-24 ESV

Mary's purification was in fulfillment of the Law recorded in Leviticus 12:

"Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. ... And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean." - Lev 12:2-4, 8 ESV 

The people of God were to be holy, that is, set aside completely for the LORD God. In the case of Mary, she was the instrument of the LORD by which Jesus entered this world of men. Thus the church has always honored her as the one woman blessed above all others. As Elizabeth said,

"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" (Luke 1:42)

To this greeting, Mary replied with her beautiful song known as the Magnificat:

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. . . - Luk 1:46-55 ESV

The controversy surrounding this event has to do with Mary herself. Was she more than physically unclean because of giving birth? Was she also spiritually unclean and in need of a Savior, as she says in her song? The Roman Catholic church says emphatically no! Mary was without sin, having herself been immaculately conceived by her own mother Anne. Anne received little attention in the Western church prior to the late 12th century, however she was honored in the Eastern church as early as the 6th century. In the Eastern Orthodox Churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, she is revered as Hanna. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition Hanna is ascribed the title Forbear of God, and both the Birth of Mary and the Dedication of Mary to the Temple are celebrated as two of the Twelve Great Feasts. The Dormition of Hanna is also a minor feast in the Eastern Church.

The Roman Catholic teaching is as follows: 

In the Constitution Ineffabilis Deus of 8 December, 1854, Pius IX pronounced and defined that the Blessed Virgin Mary "in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin."

 . . . The immunity from original sin was given to Mary by a singular exemption from a universal law through the same merits of Christ, by which other men are cleansed from sin by baptism. Mary needed the redeeming Saviour to obtain this exemption, and to be delivered from the universal necessity and debt (debitum) of being subject to original sin. The person of Mary, in consequence of her origin from Adam, should have been subject to sin, but, being the new Eve who was to be the mother of the new Adam, she was, by the eternal counsel of God and by the merits of Christ, withdrawn from the general law of original sin. Her redemption was the very masterpiece of Christ's redeeming wisdom. He is a greater redeemer who pays the debt that it may not be incurred than he who pays after it has fallen on the debtor.

At times it seems that Lutherans  give mixed signals about Mary. Was she always a virgin? Was she without sin from birth? To gain some understanding of such confusion see the Wikipedia article: Lutheran Marian theology. Near the end, that article quotes Luther:

"Furthermore, how will you endure [the Romanists'] terrible idolatries? It was not enough that they venerated the saints and praised God in them, but they actually made them into gods. They put that noble child, the mother Mary, right into the place of Christ. They fashioned Christ into a judge and thus devised a tyrant for anguished consciences, so that all comfort and confidence was transferred from Christ to Mary, and then everyone turned from Christ to his particular saint. Can anyone deny this? Is it not true?"(Luther's Works, 47:45}

Dr. Richard P. Bucher further clarifies the Lutheran view about Mary's sinlessness and role as Mediatrix. 

These are the teachings that Biblical Christians cannot accept, for they ascribe to Mary , at least in part, the role of Mediator and Advocate, roles which belong to Jesus Christ alone. Scripture is clear in declaring, "For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all" (1 Timothy 2:5-6). St. John Himself, to whom Mary was committed after our Lord's death, writes, "But if anyone sins we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world." Of His name the apostle Peter solemnly confessed: "There is no other name under heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Nothing in all of Scripture even hints at Mary sharing Christ's saving work. 

So can we honor Mary as role model? Yes! Can we thank God that by His grace (not because of her worthiness!) she became the "mother of God?" Yes! But we can never ascribe to her what the Scriptures do not. And especially can we never ascribe to her anything that contradicts the Gospel of Jesus Christ and robs him of his glory. And this is our complaint with Roman Catholic doctrine and current popular piety.

This writer concurs. Roman Catholic teaching is derived indirectly from what they call the living tradition of the church. Lutherans continue to reject this as a valid source of doctrine and teaching and rely upon Holy Scripture as the only source of teaching about God's revelation in Jesus Christ.