Many  people mistakenly believe that the Immaculate Conception refers to the  conception of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ conception was most assuredly immaculate, but  the Immaculate Conception does not refer to Jesus at all. The Immaculate  Conception is a doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church in regards to Mary, Jesus’  mother. An official statement of the doctrine reads, “The blessed Virgin Mary to  have been, from the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and  privilege of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Christ Jesus the Savior of  Mankind, preserved free from all stain of original sin.” Essentially, the  Immaculate Conception is the belief that Mary was protected from original sin,  that Mary did not have a sin nature, and was, in fact, sinless. The  problem with the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is that it is not taught  in the Bible. The Bible nowhere describes Mary as anything but an ordinary human  female whom God chose to be the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mary was  undoubtedly a godly woman (Luke 1:28).  Mary was surely a wonderful wife and mother. Jesus definitely loved and  cherished His mother (John 19:27).  The Bible gives us no reason to believe that Mary was sinless. In fact, the  Bible gives us every reason to believe that Jesus Christ is the only Person who  was not “infected” by sin and never committed a sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 2 Corinthians 5:21;  1 Peter  2:22; 1 John  3:5). The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception originated out of  confusion over how Jesus Christ could be born sinless if He was conceived inside  of a sinful human female. The thought was that Jesus would have inherited a  sinful nature from Mary had she been a sinner. In contrast to the Immaculate  Conception, the biblical solution to this problem is that Jesus Himself was  miraculously protected from being polluted by sin while He was inside Mary’s  womb. If God was capable of protecting Mary from sin, would He not be able to  protect Jesus from sin? Therefore, Mary being sinless is neither necessary nor  biblical. The Roman Catholic Church argues that the Immaculate  Conception is necessary because without it, Jesus would have been the object of  His own grace. The thought goes like this – for Jesus to have been miraculously  preserved from sin, which itself would be an act of grace, would mean God  essentially “graced Himself.” The word grace means “unmerited favor.”  Grace is giving someone something he or she does not deserve. God performing a  miracle in preserving Jesus from sin is not “grace.” In no sense could Jesus  possibly be infected with sin. He was perfect and sinless humanity joined with  sinless divinity. God cannot be infected or affected by sin, as He is perfectly  holy. This same truth applies to Jesus. It did not take “grace” to protect Jesus  from sin. Being God incarnate, Jesus was in His essence “immune” from  sin. So, the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is neither biblical  nor necessary. Jesus was miraculously conceived inside Mary, who was a virgin at  the time. That is the biblical concept of the virgin birth. The Bible does not  even hint that there was anything significant about Mary’s conception. If we  examine this concept logically, Mary’s mother would have to be immaculately  conceived as well. How could Mary be conceived without sin if her mother was  sinful? The same would have to be said of Mary’s grandmother, great-grandmother,  and so on. So, in conclusion, the Immaculate Conception is not a biblical  teaching. The Bible teaches the miraculous virgin conception of Jesus Christ,  not the immaculate conception of Mary.