Because Paul was wise, he did not argue with the Judaizers concerning doctrine. Instead, he told the Corinthians that he was jealous over them with a jealousy of God. He went on to say that he had betrothed them to one husband in order to present a pure virgin to Christ. What a wonderful way of speaking! Paul’s word in verse 2 is very touching. It touches our heart in a deep way and stirs up our love for the Lord Jesus. Very often the life-study messages touch our hearts in the same way. After reading a few pages of a message, the tender feeling within you for the Lord Jesus is stirred up, and you realize afresh how dear and precious He is. However, sometimes your theological and doctrinal mind may be troubled and raise questions about the Trinity or about Christ being the Spirit. You may wonder about modalism. You may question whether the ministry in the Lord’s recovery is trustworthy. But after reading a portion of a life-study message, you once again begin to feel that as the Bridegroom the Lord Jesus is lovely and precious. Spontaneously you say, “O Lord Jesus, dear Bridegroom, I love You. Lord, thank You for Your word, for Your ministry, and for Your recovery.” But after a while you may begin to wonder about the denominations and ask, “Are all the denominations wrong? Is it really true that there should only be one church in one city? What, then, about all the other Christians?” The Judaizers stir up questions, but the genuine ministry stirs up our love for the Lord Jesus as our Bridegroom.
Today’s Judaizers seek to shake the believers away from simply loving the Lord Jesus. Nevertheless, we should turn from the Mosaic law and from the prophets and focus our attention on the Lord. We need to see from 11:2 that we have been betrothed to one husband in order to be presented as a pure virgin to Christ. Therefore, we should say, “Our dear Lord Jesus is our unique Husband, and I am part of His virgin. I don’t care for doctrine or theology. I care only for the ministry that ministers Christ to me. He is the pleasant and dear One whom I love.”
My burden in this message is to plant deeply into the saints Paul’s word in verse 2: “I betrothed you to one husband, to present a pure virgin to Christ.” We have seen that in chapter eleven Paul has some strong things to say concerning the Judaizers, the false apostles. But before he utters such words, he reminds the believers at Corinth that he has engaged them to one Husband, not to present them as students of theology, but to present them as a pure virgin to Christ.
In verse 3 Paul goes on to say, “But I fear lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your thoughts should be corrupted from the singleness and the purity which is toward Christ.” The Greek word rendered “singleness” can also be translated simplicity. It refers here to the believers’ single-hearted loyalty, single-minded faithfulness, toward Christ. Paul’s concern was that the thoughts of the believers at Corinth would be corrupted. They were a pure virgin to Christ, but as the serpent deceived Eve, so their thoughts might be corrupted from the singleness and purity toward Christ. In fact, some of the Corinthians had already been corrupted in this way. Thus, here Paul seems to be saying, “Dear Corinthians, my concern is that you would keep your singleness and purity toward Christ. You should forget about Judaistic teachings and religion and be single toward Christ. Christ is your dear Bridegroom, and you simply need to love Him.”
It is not the goal of the Lord’s recovery to recover doctrine or theology. It is to recover Christ Himself as the unique Husband for us to love. We should belong only to Him. As long as we have been brought as a pure virgin to this Husband and love Him, appreciate Him, and belong to Him, we shall be preserved. This will keep us, sanctify us saturate us, and transform us. As we shall see, in the last four chapters of this Epistle, there is nothing doctrinal or theological. What we have here is a lovely Person, the unique, universal Husband. We all have been presented as a pure virgin to Him. We are for Him, and we should be attracted to Him, loving Him, appreciating Him, and treasuring Him. This will preserve us and help us to be sanctified and transformed.
The Lord’s recovery is not a matter of theology, tradition, religion, or practices. Rather, it is a matter of a living Person, the Lord Jesus Christ as our Bridegroom. He has attracted us, and we have been presented as a pure virgin to Him. Now we should care only for Him, love Him, and allow no one to replace Him in our hearts. Furthermore, our love for Him should be pure, our mind should be single, and our entire being should be focused on Him. This will preserve, sanctify, saturate, and transform us. Praise the Lord, this is His recovery!