Contact ULF: dpaulwalker@unleavenedfaith.org / 334-494-5829

In Christ Jesus

Unleavened Faith

A Fellowship In Christ Jesus
In the World, not of the World

All Scripture References are from the Authorized Version 1611 (KJV).

Home Ephesians Ephesians 4:11-16

Ephesians 4:11-16

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 16From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Ephesians 4:11-16

Verse 11-16 constitute one complete sentence and all must be kept within the context of the sentence. The context of the entire chapter is the unity, growth, and testimony of the one body, the Church.

Ephesians 4:11-16

11And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

The simple sentence is “He gave” speaking of Christ. The direct objects of gave are the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers. ‘Some’ in all cases is an adjective modifying the nouns apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastores, and teachers.

Verse 12-13 is to be taken as for prepositional phrases used as adverbs modifying the verb ‘gave’:

12(gave) For the perfecting of the saints,
(gave) for the work of the ministry,
(gave) for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13(gave) Till we all come in the unity of the faith,
and
of the knowledge of the Son of God,
unto a perfect man,
unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

The purpose of the gifts is for:

  • the perfecting (maturity) of the believers
  • the work of the ministry (living and witnessing the faith)
  • the edifying (encouraging intellectual and moral improvement) of the believers
  • the unity (being of one mind in understanding and doctrine) of believers

The perfect man is the mature believer of verse 14 having the full understanding of our purpose in this life and the ability and boldness to stand for our Lord and Saviour.

14That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Verse 16, ‘whom’ is ‘Christ’ of verse 15. The rest of the verse is what Christ wants for the body, Church; that every member should add to the whole in ministering unity of teaching and preaching and edifying each other in truth and love.

16From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Views: 0

Unleavened Faith Logo
In Christ Jesus
Recent Posts
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments