Rom 3:23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
This is, I believe, what you’re refering to. This verse refers to personal sin (i.e., sins which we have committed), correct? What if I could show you an exception?
ME: How about Jesus?
YOU: “Yeah…but He’s God”
ME: True, and Mary is the “Mother of God”, but that’s not the issue. Jesus is also 100% man. This verse says
all have sinned.
YOU: “Well…Jesus is an exception.”
ME: Ahhh…so we’re making exceptions! What if I could show you millions of exceptions?
YOU: “Yeah, right!”
ME: The mentally impaired and the very young are
all incapable of personal sin, as they are not of “the age of reason”. So, there are millions on the planet right now who have *not *sinned, and are thereby an exception to the “all”. This statement is a general principle, and not an absolute rule.
To tack onto what MariaG already said:
In Luke 1:28, the angle of the Lord says to Mary, “…Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee…” (KJV). We have to understand something before we discuss this… In the OT (and in the new), when a person’s name is changed by God it shows who they
are, as well as what they are called. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham (father of many), Sarai’s to Sarah (princess), Jacob became Israel, Jesus was called Emmanuel, Simon became Peter, etc. EVERY TIME this occurs, God is telling us something about the person and their role in His plan. So it is with Mary. Let us return to Luke 1:28. “thou that art highly favoured” is a translation of a single Greek word - “Kecharitomene”. What the angel said, then, was, “Hail, Kecharitomene, the Lord is with thee…”. What the angel is doing here is calling Mary by her title (much as Jesus was called Emmanuel). Without further adu, let me tell you what this word means. Kecharitomene comes from the Greek word ‘chartoo’, or *’*graced’.
Kecharitomene, however, is the perfect passive participle, which shows a completeness with a permanent result. This specific word is unique to Luke 1:28, and we’re about to see why:
Accord: The Greek perfect tense denotes the present state resultant upon a past action * (
New Testament Greek for Beginners, *p. 187).
biblequestions.org/archives/BQAR264.htm
The perfect tense in Greek is a past tense with a special meaning: it is used to refer to a past action which has effects felt in the present.
pcea.asn.au/WPG/Christ_Crucified.htm
-
Code:
Kecharitomene* denotes continuance of a completed action (H. W. Smyth, Greek Grammar [Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1968], p. 108-109, sec 1852:b; also Blass and DeBrunner, p.175).
What the angel says (to belabor the point) is “Hail, one who has been *perfectly *and *completely *filled with the grace of God at some point in the past, with continued effects in the present, the Lord is with thee…”.
This is the revelation of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Like Adam and Eve before her, Mary was created with a special grace, completely free from original sin - in other words, *perfectly *graced (i.e., without stain or blemish). Again, this was not
her doing, but God, her Savior, doing this “great thing” for her (Luke 1:49). This is how we can say that Mary was sinless, yet still needed a Savior (Luke 1:47).
Now, re-read the angelic encounters in the NT and OT, and see that typically the angel will say, “Do not be afraid!” as the opening line. Here, however, we see something different. Here, we see the angel saying, “HAIL!”. Rather than a command, the angel comes to Mary with a request. Rather than intimidation, the angel comes to Mary a humble servant who greets her with a pledge of allegiance. Can you see how this 14 year old girl was greatly troubled at what manner of greeting this was (Luke 1:29)?
She didn’t know God’s plan at that point! All she knew was this angel of the Lord was greeting her with a greeting the likes of which was never before uttered. Without this understanding, it’s easy to see how this kind of greeting could be troubling to a young Jewish girl! But WITH this understanding, we can now see exactly what God was revealing to us through His appointed messenger.
God bless you and keep you,
RyanL