Did Jesus have a significant other?
The world likes to suggest scandalous relationships with the likes of Mary Magdalene, but the Bible entertains nothing of the sort. However, the Bible teaches that Christ is married to His distinct Bride: the Church. "My brethren, ye also are become dead to the law [of Moses, CA] by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God” (Romans 7:4; cf. 2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 21:2, 9).
Christ’s Bride was Promised
Some teach that the church was plan B, or an afterthought. Not so. The church was promised, which promises are inseparable from the promises concerning the Christ (Genesis 3:15; Hebrews 2:14; Genesis 12:3; Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:16). The church was planned and predestined (Ephesians 1:3–5; 3:11). The church was prophesied (Isaiah 2:2–3).
Christ’s Bride was Purchased
In a culture where the bride’s family often paid the groom a dowry, we find the opposite with the bride of Christ. Instead of being paid to care for His Bride, Jesus paid the greatest price to receive His Bride. We see that Christ purchased the church with His blood (Acts 20:28; Ephesians 5:25), which is the only acceptable payment to cover the debt we have accumulated (Romans 6:23).
Christ’s Bride is Peculiar
The divided religious world makes Jesus an adulterer and polygamist, but the Bible paints a very different picture. Christ has one Bride: God “…hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Ephesians 1:22–23; cf. Ephesians 4:4; John 15:5; 1 Corinthians 12:27; Romans 12:5).
Finally, if we are not a part of the Bride of Christ, we have no Propitiation.
Some teach that you can be saved outside the church, making it more difficult to get in the church than it is to get into Heaven. We cannot separate salvation from the church. Such an idea would sever the Head from the Body—the Groom from His Bride. “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the Savior of the body” (Ephesians 5:23; cf. Ephesians 1:22–23; Colossians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:27). “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1–2).
How can we be a part of Christ’s Bride? He adds us at our obedience (Acts 2:37–38, 47; Hebrews 5:9).
Clifton Angel preaches for the Coldwater church of Christ in Coldwater, MS. For free Bible Correspondence Courses and In-Person Bible Studies, Emailus@coldwatercofc.com, or call us at 662-622-7951
