Ephesians 4:11-16

Ephesians 4:11

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 

Gifts to the church are now in view and the theme of unity is continually stringed throughout this passage. As Jesus gives gifts to people and grace to those who come to him, Paul now focuses on what he gave the church body, that is, all who follow him. These 5 positions may not be found in every church today, but they are the positions that Christ gave to his church and all serve the same purpose and end goal in mind, but each gift they have helps them do that differently. 

Apostles- delegates or messengers

Prophet- speaker of messages from God

Evangelist- bringer of good news

Pastors- Shepherd

Teacher- one who tells things of God, and duty of humanity. 

Ephesians 4:12

To equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

The purpose of the previously mentioned positions is given. The unified purpose of each position is to make God’s people ready to do good works. This idea of equipping has a sense of giving one equipment for a task. For a Christian, this would mean these positions equip by encouraging, giving divine messages and teaching the Word so that they are ready to do good acts. The word for service here is the same word used for the office of deacon later in Paul’s letters. It is a service that serves the church. This is all done to build up the church or encourage the church to be stronger and more unified in Spirit with one another. 

Ephesians 4:13  

Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 

The positions set up by Christ in the church have the same purpose of bringing everyone to unity. They prepare and encourage the members to be active in their faith so that everyone is unified. This is to happen until unity is reached by all members in the faith and in knowledge. There is also a sense of maturity that is reached where there is no bickering and division over doctrinal or trivial matters because the group is unified in faith and mind. This process should continue until Christ’s return. The goal or measure of our maturity is the maturity and standard of Jesus himself. We should be filled with Jesus so that we become more like him, as the positions Jesus set up in the church help us attain. 

Ephesians 4:14 

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 

After unity and maturity is met in the faith, we are no longer considered to be infants and do not know anything in the faith. This also means we will be grounded in the true gospel of Jesus and will not believe and run to every new teaching or discipline that comes along in life. This is also the role of those in the body to help keep the unity when it comes to doctrine and not let members go astray or let others teach false doctrine.  

“Cunning”- kybeia- this word refers to dice playing and used as a metaphor since playing with dice often led to cheating or tricks to win

Ephesians 4:15-16

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.  

Paul now contrasts the wavering life of one young in the faith to a mature Christian who speaks truth and grows to a mature body of Jesus since that is what we all are as a people. Christ is still the head, but when we are unified in faith and mind we become the one body under the head of Jesus. It is this love that holds each member of the body together and helps us grow. Love is mentioned twice here and it is most certainly a major aspect in unification. As each member uses their gift or does the work of service, each one is being built in love and growing to maturity. If we are not loving or using our gift, we are stifling growth and the maturity in the faith we are capable of reaching.