11:2 espoused you. The true church of Christ, encompassing all who have received Him as Savior and Lord, is also called the Bride of Christ. Paul, as the spiritual “father” of the Corinthian Christians, desired to present his “daughter” pure and whole to the heavenly Bridegroom when He comes to claim her and take her to His Father’s house, where He has prepared “mansions” for her (John 14:2-3). There are numerous other references to this unique espousal relation of the church to Christ (e.g., John 3:29; Ephesians 5:31-32; Revelation 19:7-9; 21:2,9), as well as numerous Old Testament references to Israel as the wife of Jehovah (e.g., Isaiah 54:5; Hosea 2:19).

11:2 chaste virgin. The very fact that the New Testament writers use the engagement relationship of the bride to the bridegroom as a type of the ideal relation of the church to Christ proves unequivocally that each human bride should come to her marriage as a chaste virgin; the same is equally true of the bridegroom. This is surely the best foundation for a godly home. God can and does forgive repentant sinners, but it is far better—especially in marriage—if this sin has never been committed at all.