Marian worship

Today my heart was broken. I counseled a woman who has been addicted to alcohol for the last 25-years. I wanted to get to know her so I asked her to tell me her story so that I could get a fix on where she was at spiritually. She described her life and her background and then began to tell me about her difficulty in her relationship with God. When I asked her what she believed about God she told me that she was Roman Catholic. She said she believes that she has always had a relationship with God, that she worships the Father, the Son, the Holy-Spirit and... Mary. I was struck by such a bold admission, so I asked her, "you worship Mary?" She very confidently stated, "Yes. I worship Mary. I believe I have a very strong relationship with Mary as well."

Such an admission is heart-wrenching. Roman Catholic apologists are well known for defending their false-worship of Mary as "reverence" and not "worship". However, it is apparent in the practice of the Roman Catholics I have spoken to that Mary is being worshiped by them and not simply revered. In the temptation Satan wanted Jesus to worship him. The Lord's response couldn't be clearer. The Lord Jesus said:

"Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'" Matt. 4:10

As we dug-in a little more to her beliefs (as expected) she began to explain that ultimately she believed that her standing before God was dependent upon her obedience to His law. And such is a display of the bankruptcy of the Roman Catholic religion. Encouraging people to engage in the worship of anyone other than the Triune God of Scripture and telling people that righteousness comes by obedience to the law is anathema (Galatians 1:6-8). False teaching leaves behind such spiritual wreckage. It has tremendous consequences. But, Praise the Lord, I was able to give her direction on Christ as the only Mediator and the Gospel of God's grace through faith in Christ alone! Pray for her!

Jeff Durbin
Apologia