Ephesians 4:1-12

Unity

1 So then, as the prisoner in the Lord I urge you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all humility and courtesy, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 taking pains to keep the unity of the Spirit*"The unity of the Spirit" presumably refers only to things that come from the Holy Spirit; it cannot include anything with which He does not agree. Note that we are not to ‘create’ the unity, we are to "keep" it. in the bond of the peace.*In verses 1-3 Paul is talking about how we relate to other believers. 4 There is one body and one Spirit (just as you also were called in one hope of your calling), 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all,*Here is the Trinity again—the Spirit in verse 4, the Son in verse 5 and the Father in verse 6. who is over all and through all and in us*Perhaps 4% of the Greek manuscripts omit "us" (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.), while another 4% read ‘you’ (as in AV and NKJV). all.

Building up the body

7 Now to each one of us the grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift was given. 8 That is why He says, "When He ascended into the heights He captured the concentration camp, and distributed gifts to men."*"He captured the concentration camp" does not sound very much like "He led captivity captive", now does it. The point is that ‘captivity’ refers to people held in captivity, and they are freed. When an invading army takes a concentration camp, the prisoners are set free (usually). We have here a quote from Psalm 68:18, where the second half says, "You have received gifts from men", just the opposite of "distributed". What to do? The Targum (a Hebrew commentary) interprets as, "You have given gifts to the children of men". Upon reflection this would appear to be obvious. When you put tithes and offerings in the offering plate at church, you are giving to God, but does that money literally go to Heaven? No, it is redistributed down here—some goes to the preacher’s salary, some to a missionary, some to pay the light bill, etc. God does indeed receive gifts from men, but He does not stash them in Heaven somewhere; they are redistributed down here. When done properly He gets the credit: "He distributed gifts to men." 9 (What does ‘He ascended’ imply if not that He also first descended into the interior regions of the earth?*This is one of several texts that lead me to understand that Sheol/Hades is beneath the crust of the earth somewhere. For one of the things He did down there, see 1 Peter 3:19. 10 He who descended is the very one who also ascended far above all the heavens,*"All the heavens"—sounds like quite a few, more than three; and He is above all of them. that He might fill all things.) 11 Yes, He Himself gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,*One might imagine that this list follows the chronological sequence of the several ministries. An apostle introduces the Gospel into an area or context; a prophet gets the people’s attention and an evangelist urges them to believe; but once people are regenerated then pastors and teachers come to the fore—they are the ones who equip the saints. However, in practice, especially in a pioneer missionary situation, there are seldom that many people around. The missionary preaches the Gospel and it is up to him to teach the first converts; he is alone. A pioneer missionary, the first one to introduce the Gospel to an ethnic group or area, has an apostolic function (whether or not he himself is an apostle). But he must also function as an evangelist and as a teacher (whether or not he has those gifts). However, most of us live and work where there are established, functioning congregations. So what would be the function of an apostle within an established, functioning congregation? If he lives and worships in that community, probably none at all, in that specific capacity—he might function as a teacher or a prophet. In a country, or area, where there is no more pioneer missionary work to be done, the exercise of the apostolic function would be itinerant, acting as God’s special emissary, an official intervener, for disciplinary and correctional purposes. I will take up evangelist next; what would his function be within an established congregation? Well, can you evangelize someone who is already regenerated? Evidently the function of an evangelist is directed to unbelievers, who should not be members of the congregation (although some often are). Of course an evangelist might also function as a pastor or teacher. A truly gifted evangelist will function beyond the limits of a local congregation. As for the prophetic function, I will address the question of supernatural revelation of information not available through existing channels. (1 Corinthians 14:3 speaks of ‘edification’, ‘exhortation’ and ‘comfort’ as coming from a prophet, but I will not take up such activity here.) We understand that the Canon of Scripture is closed; God is no longer giving written revelation that is of general or universal application. But that does not mean that God no longer speaks into specific situations. Divine guidance is a type of prophecy; He is giving information not otherwise available. I myself have been contemplated with a prophecy delivered by someone who had no idea who I was, and not in the context of a local congregation. The function of a true prophet cannot be limited to one congregation. Indeed, God may use a prophet at city, state or country level. Our world desperately needs prophetic voices. A teacher will normally reside in a specific community, but his ministry may range beyond it. A pastor’s function is local, just as he is chosen and ordained locally. It is simply a fact of life that someone with a shepherd’s heart is not necessarily a good teacher, and an honest to goodness teacher often lacks a shepherd’s heart. The functions are supposed to be complementary, and the object is to get all true believers involved in the work of the ministry. Life in Christ is not a spectator sport! 12 for the equipping of the saints into the work of the ministry, so as to build up the body of Christ,