The Blessed Effects of God’s Saving Grace (4:1–6:20)
Risen, ascended, and sitting at the right hand of the Father, Christ now fills the whole universe. He is totally in charge. But, marvel of marvels, he deigns to give us mortals a part in his grand plan to have the church spread out into all the world. To empower his church for this important task, he “gave gifts to men.” These gifts are the portions his grace has determined his representatives need to carry out their various tasks.
Paul proceeds to list some of the gifts Christ has given to serve his cause.
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
It would be an engaging process to try to find names of people who might fit the categories Paul lists, but his intent seems rather to list offices or positions Christ created for the church.
Bible scholars have tried to determine meaningful distinctions between the five terms listed here. Some general distinctions can be made on the basis of examining the roots of the Greek words used. An “apostle” is someone sent out, or commissioned. New Testament usage suggests that a “prophet” was not necessarily a person who foretold the future but one who brought God’s message to others, be that a message about the past, present, or future. “Evangelists” are people who share the good news (from euangelion, which we translate “gospel”).
An attempt is also made to group the terms. Apostles, prophets, and evangelists are understood to be traveling ministers, whereas pastors and teachers are assumed to serve in one specific location. Perhaps that is true. It is possible that the specific descriptions of the offices Paul lists do not conform exactly to what we have today.
Two things, however, can definitely be asserted about all the positions Paul names: they were part of the public ministry and they were instituted (given) by Christ. Hence the public ministry is that they were divinely instituted. It did not come about through tradition, nor was it merely the church’s response to needs that arose. In practice the public ministry may take different forms, but it is a divine institution given to the church by our ascended Lord.
Why did he institute the public ministry?
to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 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.
God’s purpose in establishing the public ministry was “that the body of Christ may be built up.” As noted previously, the “body of Christ” is picture language describing the organic unity of all believers in Christ, that is, the church. God wants that unity to be strengthened and realized ever more fully. To that end he established the public ministry positions listed in verse 11.
These public servants are shepherds who feed and protect the flock, as well as search out the lost and straying. But they aren’t to be the only ones doing the work, nor do they do it all by themselves. As part of their work, God has also directed them “to prepare God’s people for works of service.” Or as we might also put it, to prepare God’s people for service-work.
God’s people serve their fellow Christians by using God’s Word to help them grow in their faith. That Word is “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Everyone is his brother’s keeper—and to do that in the best possible way requires training or preparation for service-work.
What is the goal or outcome of this service-work? Paul describes the ideal toward which we strive when he says, “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.”
With the pronoun “we,” Paul switches to the first person, thereby including himself. To be sure, he is writing to the Ephesians, but what he is saying here applies to himself and to all other Christians as well.
Paul enumerates three components that comprise the goal toward which we all should strive. But they are not three separate things. They all speak of the desired “building up” that is to take place as Christians help one another through faithful use of the Word.
Paul first describes this building up as something occurring “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God.” Knowing Christ and believing in him are the key ingredients to bringing about the growth God looks for in his church.
As faith and knowledge about Christ grow, believers “become mature.” That process, however, is never complete here on earth. It has rightly been said that the Christian life is a constant “becoming.” Paul himself hadn’t yet attained full spiritual maturity—as he frankly admits to the Philippians (3:12-15). For a candid statement of his frustration with his frequent lapses and lack of maturity, read Romans chapter 7, particularly verses 14 to 25. Spiritual maturity is not fully attainable here, but it is what every Christian strives for personally and seeks to help others reach.
Paul’s third component in the goal toward which we are striving is that we all “[attain] to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” We might paraphrase that expression by saying, “Until we reach Christ’s full stature.” Again, that won’t happen this side of heaven.