Are Christians individually married to Christ?
Question:
Does the Bible talk about individuals being a bride of God or a bride of Christ? It is my understanding that the church as a whole is the bride of Christ, and I think it is not accurate to say things "I am married to God" or "Christ is my husband." I know it goes along with the concept of how our dedication, love, and loyalty are supposed to be with God and Christ, but I think it sounds nutty because I have never read it in the Bible. I guess that I am not a fan of people creating their own buzz words or phrases because so many denominations do that to brand themselves.
Answer:
The idea that the church is Christ's bride is widespread:
- "Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another -- to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God" (Romans 7:4).
- "For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ" (II Corinthians 11:2).
- "Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God" (Revelation 21:10-9).
It is a continuation of an Old Testament theme that Israel was God's bride:
- "For your Maker is your husband, The LORD of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth" (Isaiah 54:5).
- " "Return, O backsliding children," says the LORD; "for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion" " (Jeremiah 3:14).
- "I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the LORD" (Hosea 2:19-20).
While the bride of Christ is the church (Ephesians 5:23-27), the church is composed of individual Christians. Hence, we can say that collectively we as individual members of the Church are married to Christ. Both Romans 7:4 and II Corinthians 11:2 both talk in this manner. We are not each a bride of Christ in the sense that Christ has multiple wives, but we are all a part of the bride of Christ, which is the church.
Understanding that, it isn't necessarily wrong to say that each belongs to Christ. "For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward" (Mark 9:41). "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29).
