Ephesians 4:13 - Forerunner Commentary

Ephesians 4:13

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,

12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, ^afor the edifying of ^bthe body of Christ,

13 till we all come to the unity of the faith ^aand of the knowledge of the Son of God, to ^ba perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

14 that we should no longer be ^achildren, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of ^bdeceitful plotting,

15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the ^ahead—Christ—

16 ^afrom whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Ephesians 4:12-16

Even as Jesus Christ was the Father's gift to the church, Christ's gift to the church is the ministry. Now, for what reason? Notice how specific this is.

We'll confine ourselves here to general statements regarding the ministry's area of authority. It is in the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry (or, serving) and for the edifying of the body of Christ.

Equipping is interesting in what the word means. It means, to set in order. In other words, it is saying that something is not aligned properly, and it needs to be realigned, and put into the proper alignment.

What is out of line is our knowledge of God, our knowledge of truth, our knowledge of His way of life. Our character is out of line. And so, God has given a gift to the church in the form of the ministry, to help put people in right alignment with God.

They will therefore be equipped for the work of the ministry—which is a work of service. Serving God. Glorifying God in one's witness. That might include everything from preaching the gospel in evangelistic settings, or administering to local congregations.

Now, edifying means "to promote the spiritual growth of." It becomes very clear that the ministry's area of authority has to do with teaching. There is administrative responsibility as well, but the administrative responsibility has to do with the work of the church. It does not have to do with having magisterial authority in people's lives—dictating to them about what they can do, and what they cannot do. The minister is a teaching machine. That's where his authority lies.

Excerpted from Government (Part Six) by John W. Ritenbaugh

Ephesians 4:13-16

The responsibility of the church is to help prepare her members to attain a stature measured by the fullness of Christ. The goal of the church is nothing less than to produce men and women who reflect Jesus Christ Himself, and this means we must reach the unity of the faith.

This means until we all arrive at a state of complete unity and perfection, until we all hold the same truths, the same doctrine, and have the same confidence and the same faith and trust in the Son of God, we must edify the Body of Christ.

Excerpted from Are You Part of the Spiritual Unity? by Martin G. Collins

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