Mystery of the Bride of Christ

“For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ ”- 2 Corinthians 11:2.

In a number of places in the Scripture the church is described as the bride of Christ. This passage is one of the places where we are said to be espoused to Christ like as a chaste virgin.

Furthermore, in the book of Ephesians chapter five, Christ’s commitment to the church is also illustrated as a loving husband who “. . . loved the church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or winkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” -Ephesians 5:25-27.

The personification of the Church as a chaste virgin, a bride and a wife helps us understand in the strongest of terms the kind of relationship we ought to have with Christ - One of love, devotion and purity.