Yes—the Bible describes the relationship between Christ and believers as a marriage-like union, and Les Feldick teaches this from Ephesians 5.
Paul writes that Christ is the head of the church just as a husband is the head of his wife, and that Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. Les Feldick points out that Paul constantly moves back and forth between the husband-wife relationship and Christ-church relationship because they are a perfect, synonymous picture. Just as a man and wife are one flesh, believers are members of Christ's body—His flesh and His bones.
Ephesians 5:23 — Paul directly compares the husband's headship over his wife to Christ's headship over the church.
Ephesians 5:25 — Paul commands husbands to love their wives in the same way Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her.
Ephesians 5:30-32 — Paul connects the one-flesh marriage union to believers being members of Christ's body and calls the whole comparison a great mystery concerning Christ and the church.
In Ephesians 5:23, Paul writes, “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.” In verse 25 he commands, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” In verses 29-31, Paul explains that no man hates his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it, “even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.” Then he quotes Genesis: “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.” Paul concludes in verse 32, “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” Thus, Scripture itself draws the marriage relationship as the human picture of the union between Christ and believers.
Les Feldick teaches that in Ephesians 5 Paul deliberately uses the husband-wife relationship as the earthly illustration of Christ's relationship to the Body of believers. He notes that Paul constantly “flips back and forth between Christ and the church, and the husband and the wife” because the two are a “perfect, synonymous relationship” (Clip 4). Even as Christ is the head of the church and the Savior of the body, the husband is the head of the wife; and even as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her, husbands are to love their wives (Clips 1, 3). Les also says the Body of Christ is the spiritual wife or bride in this analogy, a unique relationship especially for Gentile believers (Clips 1, 5). He connects this to the one-flesh language of Scripture, showing that believers are members of Christ's body because they have been united with Him as a husband and wife are united (Clip 2). In Romans 7, Les points out the same marriage analogy: after the old man is crucified, the believer is “married to Christ” (Clip 7).
Paul says the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, and he commands husbands to love their wives the way Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. Les observes that Paul keeps moving back and forth between the two relationships because they are a perfect, synonymous relationship. The earthly marriage, therefore, serves as the human picture of Christ's love for and union with the church.
In Ephesians 5:30, Scripture says believers are members of Christ's body, of His flesh and of His bones. Les ties this directly to the one-flesh union of marriage, explaining that believers have been united to Christ just like husband and wife. He also emphasizes that Christ is the head of the church and the Savior of the body, making the Body of Christ the spiritual counterpart to the wife in a marriage.
Les notes that Paul uses the marriage analogy to describe the believer's position in Christ. In Romans 7, he sums it up this way: crucify old Adam, put him to death so that he is broken from the demands of the Ten Commandments, and be married to Christ. Being married to Christ is thus presented as a real union between the believer and Christ that parallels the union of a husband and wife.
No Condemnation: What It Really Means to Be "In Christ"
The Scripture doesn't say that you have to experience some emotional high. The Scripture doesn't say you have to go through a prescribed set of rules. In fact, I've been toying with it for the last several weeks in our Tulsa class a few weeks ago. Some of you were there. Someone asked a question sort of like this, and I said, well let's just see what the Scripture says.
Christ as Spiritual Husband
Les introduces the analogy from Ephesians 5:23-25: Christ is the head of the church just as the husband is head of the wife, making the Body of Christ the spiritual wife or bride.
One Flesh with Christ
Les reads Ephesians 5:29-31 and says believers are members of Christ's body, of His flesh and bones, because they have been united to Him just like husband and wife are one flesh.
Husbands Love as Christ Loved
Les applies the analogy to the husband's role: a husband is to love his wife with the same self-sacrificing love Christ had when He gave Himself for the church.
Constant Back-and-Forth Analogy
Les shows that Paul repeatedly alternates between Christ and the church and the husband and wife because the two relationships are a perfect, synonymous picture.
Body as Unique Relationship
Les says Ephesians 5 presents the husband-wife relationship as a correlation with Christ as the Head and the Body of Christ as church-age believers.
Christ the Head, the Church His Body
Les connects Ephesians 5's head-and-body language to Paul's broader doctrine of the Body of Christ, noting that 'body' is strictly a Pauline term.
Married to Christ
Les uses the Romans 7 analogy to explain that after the old man is crucified, the believer is married to Christ in the same way a husband and wife are joined.
Ephesians 5:23: For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
This verse establishes the direct parallel between Christ's headship over the church and the husband's headship over his wife.
Ephesians 5:25: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
It shows the sacrificial love of Christ as the model for a husband's love for his wife.
Ephesians 5:29: For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Paul compares a man's care for his own body to the Lord's care for the church.
Ephesians 5:30: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
This verse identifies believers as actual members of Christ's body, matching the one-flesh language of marriage.
Ephesians 5:31: For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Paul quotes the Genesis marriage formula as the basis for the Christ-and-church union.
Ephesians 5:32: This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Paul explicitly says the marriage mystery he is describing points to Christ and the church.
Les points to Ephesians 5:23-32, where Paul repeatedly switches between husband and wife and Christ and the church. He calls the two relationships a perfect, synonymous picture. Christ is the head and Savior of the Body, and husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church.
Les teaches that Scripture says believers are members of Christ's body, of His flesh and His bones, because they have been united to Him just like husband and wife. He bases this on Ephesians 5:30-31 and compares it directly to the one-flesh marriage union.
Les explains that Paul uses the marriage analogy in Romans 7 to describe the believer's position in Christ. After crucifying the old man, the believer is married to Christ. This is the same union that Ephesians 5 pictures between Christ and the church.
Watch the Teaching: No Condemnation: What It Really Means to Be "In Christ"