Ephesians 4:11-14

“The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming” (Ephesians 4:11-14).

Comment:

You asked about Ephesians 4:12, but that verse is merely one phrase of a longer sentence that needs to be considered as a whole. Paul is writing from Rome, where he is under house arrest (see 4:1). He is discussing several of the early challenges and controversies faced by the congregations he had founded throughout Asia Minor and Greece. One issue was the question of hierarchy—which role is most important in the new movement. Such questions are foolish, Paul suggests: "There is one body and one Spirit" (4:4), so the various spiritual gifts—prophecy, evangelism, teaching, pastoring, and so on—are only temporal roles necessary to achieve the full "unity of the faith" that Jesus calls 'the kingdom of heaven.' Paul frequently tells his followers that they must no longer be children—it's time to 'grow up' spiritually—to understand and fully claim the spiritual identity that Jesus demonstrated, and that is our true self.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed