WHEN AN APOSTLE IS CONCERNED -- Tomorrow:
"Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. 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. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him." (2 Corinthians 11:1-4)
Devotion 9 of 29
" . . . for I have espoused you . . . "
Other versions read, "I have betrothed you" (NKJV), "I promised you" (NIV), "I promised you in marriage" (NRSV), "you have been married by me" (BBE), "I have prepared you" (GENEVA), "I gave you all in marriage" (NJB), "for I have coupled you" (PNT), and "I am presenting as fiancee" (PHILLIPS).
As you can see, some of the translations come miserably short of what is intended by this expression.
The word "espoused" comes from a word that means, "promise to, give in marriage, be engaged to" (FRIBERG), "to fit together . . . to fit, adapt, prepare, make ready . . . hence, in marriage, to betroth." (LIDDELL-SCOTT).
Although the word can sometimes mean "join together," that is not its meaning here. The idea behind espousal is PREPARATION, not experience. The marriage of the Son has not yet taken place, for the church has not yet been presented to Him pure and without spot (Eph 5:27). Using the expressions of our time, this is more than putting on an engagement ring, or making an official announcement that Miss so-and-so plans to marry Mr. Well-known-man. The person who is espoused is reserved for the one they have purposed to marry. That reservation is to be attended by purity, and it is accompanied by anticipation and happy expectation.
Concerning the church, which is espoused to Christ, our espousal vows are now being put to the test. We must be ready when the time of marriage comes. That is why the objective of every true laborer with God is to prepare the bride, which is the church, for her eternal union with the Bridegroom. The aim is to so contribute to the welfare of the saints that it may be said of them in that day, "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and HIS WIFE HATH MADE HERSELF READY" (Rev 19:7).
TO ONE HUSBAND
" . . . to one husband . . . " Other versions read, "to HER one husband" (RSV), "unto one man" (BBE), "to a SINGLE husband" (NJB), "for ONE man only" (LIVING), and "to your TRUE husband" (PHILLIPS).
The "one Husband," is the Lord Jesus Christ, for whom believers are being reserved. He is not our husband yet, but that is the intention behind our conversion. "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law 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" (Rom 7:4).
The ultimate purpose of salvation is not to equip us to live a better life in this world. It is not to obtain more worldly goods, have fewer difficulties, and be the envy of this present evil world. Rather, it is that we might be presented to "one Husband." That "husband" is not the world.
The aim is to be ready when the Bridegroom returns! If that return catches us unawares, our future will be nothing but fearful and dismal. Jesus made this clear in the parable of the ten virgins. Five of them were ready for the Bridegroom's return, and five were not. Only those who were ready were allowed to enter with the Bridegroom. The unprepared – all of them – were excluded. When the unprepared made what they felt to be adequate last-minute preparations, they asked to be granted entrance into the presence of the Bridegroom. "Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not" (Mat 25:11-12). Our Lord then gave His disciples, and us as well, this solemn word: "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh" (Mat 25:13).
The truth of the matter was that the Corinthians were not ready for the return of the Bridegroom! They had allowed conditions to rise among them that were at a variance with the Divine nature and with the very purpose of the Almighty God. Thus, Paul accelerates his efforts to get them ready for the presentation of the bride to the Bridegroom. He wants them in that approved number, and he will labor zealously to that end. If they, as he also desired for the Thessalonians, are not his "crown of rejoicing . . . in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming," his labor would all have been expended on them in vain (1 Thess 2:19).
Men take counts now and even glory in them. Real counts are yet to come.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, grant me grace to be ready for the return of the Bridegroom.