Eph 5:25-32 What exactly does Paul mean here?
Eph 5:25-32 What exactly does Paul mean here?
Paul is simply illustrating here Christ's infinite love for the church by comparing the relationship of Christ and the church to that of a man and his wife.
The supreme responsibility of husbands in regard to their wives is to love them with the same unreserved, selfless and sacrificial love that Christ has for His church. Christ gave everything He had, including His own life for the church, and that is the standard of sacrificial love a husband must have for his wife (CP V33; Col 3:19; 1Pe 3:7 with Ac 20:28).
Paul is not teaching in Eph 5:25-32 that the wife symbolizes the church or that the husband symbolizes Christ. He is simply teaching that Christs' relationship to the church is more easily understood through the dynamics of a marriage relationship between a husband and wife (CP Eph 5:22-23).
The great mystery Paul refers to in V32 is that marriage is a sacred reflection of the magnificent and beautiful mystery of union between Christ and the church, which was completely unknown until revealed in the New Testament. Many in the church use Eph 5:25-32 as a proof text that the church is the Bride of Christ, despite the fact that the true Bride of Christ is clearly identified in scripture as the Holy city, New Jerusalem (CP Rev 19:7-9, 21:2, 9-10).
For a more detailed study on the bride of Christ see comments on Ro 7:4, 2Cor 11:2; Eph 2:15-16(B), Rev 19:7-9, 21:2, and author's study The Bride of Christ in his book Advanced Studies in the Christian Faith (Volume 1).
Eph 5:26 See comments on Jn 3:5