What does Paul mean when he speaks of the church being espoused to Christ?
The church's espousal to Christ is an engagement, not yet the wedding. Paul applies the ancient custom of a father arranging his son's bride to the body of Christ, whose head is Christ. This engagement anticipates the wedding that will one day transpire in glory.
Les explains that in the ancient practice, when a father found the appropriate girl for his son's bride, he made all the arrangements and more or less consummated the espousal—what we today would call the engagement. Paul takes that same concept and shows he has made the engagement between the body of Christ and Christ, the head of the body, in lieu of the wedding that will one day transpire, which Les expects in glory. Les also notes the debate that some feel the body of Christ is not the bride but that it is Israel. He holds to the body-of-Christ view because Paul writes to the Corinthians, who are members of the body of Christ, warning that as the serpent beguiled Eve through subtlety, their minds could be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Les connects this to Adam and Eve as the first human family, where God made the man the head of the woman, and to Ephesians chapter 5, where Paul draws an analogy between the husband's relationship with his wife and Christ's relationship with the Church.
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.
More Questions
Why did Paul say he had espoused the church to one husband?
Paul’s purpose in espousing the church to one husband was to present her as a chaste or pure virgin to Christ.