Oh Dave......
MARY WAS BORN WITHOUT SIN (the dogma of the Immaculate Conception). The Catholic Church denies that Mary had a sin nature or that she ever committed wrong doing. Following are quotes from Catholic publications:
The Immaculate Conception--or the fact that Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin--is a doctrine of the faith contained implicitly [meaning that this doctrine is not actually taught in the Bible] in Holy Scripture. The Holy Ghost did not express it in so many words; but he deposited it in some Biblical statements from which, like a seed, it grew up in the living Church of Christ until it reached its full-size dimension. Could the mother of the Saviour, sharing in her Son's victory, be, even for a moment, under the power of Satan? She had to be free from original sin. Finally, in 1854, Pope Pius IX declared it a revealed doctrine--one of those that have to be believed by all who share the faith of the Church (Any Questions?, p. 67).
"The Immaculate Virgin [was] preserved free from all stain of original sin" (Vatican II documents, "Dogmatic Constitution on the Church").
BIBLE ANSWER:
Mary was not sinless. She herself confessed her need of a Savior in Lk. 1:47. If she were indeed "immaculate" or sinless as the Catholic Church teaches, she would have had no need of a Savior. The Bible says ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Ro. 3:23). The only exception mentioned in Scripture is the virgin born Son of God.
"Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth" (1 Pe. 2:22).
"For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens" (He. 7:26).
One will look in vain in the Bible for a reference to Mary as immaculate and without original sin.
BigMack