Each saint shares in the growth of the church. Unfortunately, there are some Christians who are still babies (v. 14, see 1Cor 3:1ff), who are unstable and easily led astray. [VB063 Podcast Notes]

We see that Jesus gave gifts to His church in Ephesians 4:11, and the following verses tell us the purpose for these gifts.

[4:11] And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,

Since we are still in the church age, we still have apostles and prophets, along with the evangelists, pastors, and teachers. No matter how misunderstood they are, we have all these gifts. Now, as Paul continues we will get a general idea about the function of these gifts.

[4:12-16] for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, [13] till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; [14] that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, [15] but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head–Christ– [16] from 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.

Equipping:^[2677]katartismos (kat-ar-tiyz-mos’) n. complete furnishing, to set a broken bone, or dislocated joint and have perfect wholeness when mended.

Edifying:^[3619]oikodome (oi-ko-do-mee’) n. Architecture, a structure. Building up the body.

Until:^[3360]mechris (me-chriys’) as far as, i.e. up to a certain point. Till we all come to the unity of the faith.

Knowledge:^[1922]epignosis, is more intense than gnosis, this word always refers to knowledge which very powerfully influences the form of the religious life, a knowledge laying claim to personal sympathy and exerting an influence upon the person. This is more than just agreeing with something you have heard.¹

Rick Renner describes epignosis as;

“As person who knows his facts like a professional. This is a person so sure of his information that when he speaks, he does so with confidence and boldness. He has no reason to be ashamed or to fear that others may accuse him of being incorrect because he is well instructed and has an intensive, deep knowledge of the facts. No one becomes this knowledgeable accidentally. It requires study, meditation, digging deep into truth, and applying oneself to know the facts inside and out.”²

This is full discernment, acknowledgment^[1922] of Jesus, to a completed person in the fullness of the anointed One and His anointing. Until Jesus returns, we will have baby Christians. Until we see His face we will not have unity of the faith and knowledge of Jesus (1Cor 13:12; 1Jn 3:2). Perfect man, telios,^[5046] (used only 5 times in the NT) always means, complete, full-grown, mature – mature in faith and knowledge of Jesus, not childish or youthful (cf. 1Cor 2:6; 14:20; Phil 3:15; Col 1:28).

Colossians 1:28 ought to be in every ministry’s statement of purpose; “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.”^(ESV)

The goal of the church is described in this passage. The pastor-teacher is to nourish the saints with the Word of God and equip them for service. The saints, in turn, perform the work of the ministry. As each saint grows and wins others, the entire body grows in Christ. Verse 12 should read, “For the maturing of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the body of Christ.” Each saint shares in the growth of the church. Unfortunately, there are some Christians who are still babies (v. 14, see 1Cor 3:1ff), who are unstable and easily led astray. Satan and his ministers (see 2Cor 11:14,15) are waiting eagerly to tear down the church with their lies. The church is edified (built up) through the Word of God (Acts 20:32; 1Cor 14:4). Churches are not built up and strengthened through man-made programs, entertainment, recreation, or “drives.” The church is a body and must have spiritual food, the Word of God. When the body is completed (full grown), Christ will return and take His body, of which He is the Head, home to glory.

¹Zodhiates, Spiros. Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible–NASB (Chattanooga: AMG, 1984; rev. ed. 1990), 1833.

²Renner, Rick. Sparkling Gems From The Greek I. (Tulsa: Harrison House, 2003), 714.

God bless you my friend,

— Dwight Hammond