Paul Details the Purpose of the Spiritual Gifts
given to Believers Part 1
Ephesians
4:12-13 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the Body of Christ: 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 fullness of Christ: KJVPaul begins his declaration of why our Lord Jesus Christ gave these varying gifts to men and women in His Body the Church by giving reason number one to be “perfecting of the saints” (Ephesians 4:12). This English word perfecting Paul uses here is the one and only time it is used by any writer in the entire Bible and it is translated by the Greek word katartismos which means to complete thoroughly, that is, repair (literally or figuratively) or adjust: - fit, frame, mend, (make) perfect, join together, prepare, restore. In other words, the gifts given to men and women by our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ is to minister to His Body of Believers while we are still down in this world of woe still stained by sin and getting sullied by our sins to bring every disjointed member of the Body of Christ back into complete alignment just as Paul declared to the Galatian believers in Galatians 6:1-6. The purpose of these different gifts are to make the Body (the Church) strong and fit spiritually to represent our Lord Jesus properly, powerfully, and passionately in this world as we are away from our true home in Heaven with Christ.
The “work of ministry” (Ephesians 4:12) is primarily the ministry of the Word of God to the saints individually as members of the Body (the Church) disjointed or dislocated and collectively as One Body together because it is only the Word of God that has the power to mend and restore the saints making them thoroughly complete for every good work as Paul wrote with these words to the Thessalonian believers, “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions {and} instructions which you were taught by us, whether by our word of mouth or by letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, Who loved us and gave us everlasting consolation {and} encouragement and well-founded hope through [His] grace (unmerited favor), Comfort {and} encourage your hearts and strengthen them [make them steadfast and keep them unswerving] in every good work and word.” (2 Thessalonians 2:15-17).
Paul declares that none of the gifts are for the individual or given to the individual because he or she was someone special or deserved the gift or gifts, but that our Lord Jesus has distributed them in just the manner He has determined “for the edifying of the Body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12). The English word edifying Paul uses here is translated by the Greek word oikodome has the idea of building a great architectural structure; it means to build up something. In this case, the great architectural structure is the Church (Christ Body) and it is to be built up by the ministration of the Word of God to the members as Paul spoke to these same Ephesian believers when he departed from them for the last time here on earth, “And now [brethren], I commit you to God [I deposit you in His charge, entrusting you to His protection and care]. And I commend you to the Word of His Grace [to the commands and counsels and promises of His unmerited favor]. It is able to build you up and to give you [your rightful] inheritance among all God’s set-apart ones (those consecrated, purified, and transformed of soul).” (Acts 20:32) as well as what he already wrote to them earlier in this same letter when he said, “Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:20-22).
Again Paul expresses our Lord Jesus’ design of the differing gifts to build up His Body “Till we all come in the unity of the faith” (Ephesians 4:13). Though the gifts are different in some members of Christ Body, yet the purpose is one in the same and that is unity/henotes which means “oneness” as we discovered in our last study. In a human body each member although it has different functions still works together to make that body live and move in complete harmony and purpose, so it is with the ministry of the Word of God to the different members of Christ Body designed to make many into One Mystical Body (the Church), not one denomination or sect or ecumenical organization, but to nurture and feed, and grow an organism the Body of Jesus Christ as our Lord Jesus commanded/instructed the Apostle Peter to do with these words to him, “He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with a deep, instinctive, personal affection for Me, as for a close friend]?’ Peter was grieved (was saddened and hurt) that He should ask him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You [that I have a deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend].’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed My sheep.’” (John 21:17).
This is the only purpose for each and every one of these gifts listed for us in Ephesians 4:11 by Paul and that is the feeding of the Word of God to the flock of God as our Lord Jesus declared with these words to the enemy in the wilderness, “And the tempter came and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’ But He answered and said, ‘It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:3-4). All of this building up is that we all may come to “the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:” (Ephesians 4:13). The English word knowledge Paul uses here is translated by the Greek word epignosis which means to become fully acquainted with; recognition, that is, (by implication) full discernment, acknowledgement. In other words, our Lord Jesus Christ gave gifts to men and women in order that these Ephesian believers and all of us today that belong to Him will know Him intimately, experientially, and completely as it is humanly possible while we are still in this corrupted body with our corrupted nature still in us as the Apostle Peter exhorted us to do with these words, “Let me warn you therefore, beloved, that knowing these things beforehand, you should be on your guard, lest you be carried away by the error of lawless {and} wicked [persons and] fall from your own [present] firm condition [your own steadfastness of mind]. But grow in grace (undeserved favor, spiritual strength) and recognition {and} knowledge {and} understanding of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (the Messiah). To Him [be] glory (honor, majesty, and splendor) both now and to the day of eternity. Amen (so be it)!” (2 Peter 3:17-18).
This is in complete contrast to the way the Apostle Paul warned the Corinthian believers with these words, “I WISH you would bear with me while I indulge in a little [so-called] foolishness. Do bear with me! For I am zealous for you with a godly eagerness {and} a divine jealousy, for I have betrothed you to one Husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But [now] I am fearful, lest that even as the serpent beguiled Eve by his cunning, so your minds may be corrupted {and} seduced from wholehearted {and} sincere {and} pure devotion to Christ. For [you seem readily to endure it] if a man comes and preaches another Jesus than the One we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the [Spirit] you [once] received or a different gospel from the one you [then] received {and} welcomed; you tolerate [all that] well enough!” (2 Corinthians 11:1-4). Paul was exercising his gifts exactly as our Lord Jesus Christ intended when he penned these words to the Corinthian believers warning them of potential doom and disaster to them spiritually.
The English word Paul uses “perfect” is translated by the Greek word teleios meaning complete (in various applications of labor, growth, mental and moral character, etc.). It does not mean sinless perfection as some misguided souls have supposed they had attained in past generations and even till this very day, but instead Paul expresses here an ascension or a climb up to our Lord Jesus Christ (He is the Goal) taking up one rung at a time stretching, striving, and straining our spiritual muscles as hard as possible seeking after Christ Jesus our Lord being no longer “babes in Christ” but growing up to spiritual adulthood putting aside childish things such as Paul declared to the Hebrew believers with these words, “THEREFORE LET us go on and get past the elementary stage in the teachings {and} doctrine of Christ (the Messiah), advancing steadily toward the completeness {and} perfection that belong to spiritual maturity. Let us not again be laying the foundation of repentance {and} abandonment of dead works (dead formalism) and of the faith [by which you turned] to God, With teachings about purifying, the laying on of hands, the resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment {and} punishment. [These are all matters of which you should have been fully aware long, long ago.]” (Hebrews 6:1-2). Paul’s desire with this portion of his letter to these Ephesians and to all of us true believers today is that we find our cause, care, and completeness in our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ alone in this temporal life down here on the earth.
“The meaning is, until we all hold the same truths, and have the same confidence in the Son of God; Unto a complete man. This figure is obvious. The Apostle compares their condition then to a state of childhood. The perfect man here refers to the man ‘grown up,’ the man of mature life. He says that Christ had appointed pastors and teachers that the infant Church might be conducted to ‘maturity;’ or become strong - like a man. He does not refer to the doctrine of ‘sinless perfection’ - but to the state of manhood as compared with that of childhood - a state of strength, vigor, wisdom, when the full growth should be attained; see 1 Corinthians 14:20.” Albert Barnes
“The chosen ones, whom God has sanctified or set apart for Himself in eternal election: the ministry of the word is designed for the completing the number of these in the effectual calling; and for the perfecting of the whole Body of the Church, by gathering in all that belong to it, and of every particular saint, who is regenerated and sanctified by the Spirit of God: for the best of saints are imperfect; for though there is a perfection in them, as that designs sincerity, in opposition to hypocrisy, and as it may be taken comparatively with respect to what others are, or they themselves were; and though there is a perfection of parts of the new man in them, yet not of degrees; and though there is a complete perfection in Christ, yet not in themselves, their sanctification is imperfect, as their faith, knowledge, love, etc. sin is in them, and committed by them, and they continually want supplies of grace; and the best of them are sensible of their imperfection, and own it: now the ministration of the Word is a means of carrying on the work of grace in them unto perfection, or ‘for the restoring or joining in of the saints’; the elect of God were disjointed in Adam’s fall, and scattered abroad, who were representatively gathered together in One Head, even in Christ, in redemption; and the Word is the means of the visible and open jointing of them into Christ, and into His Churches, and also of restoring them after backslidings.” Dr. John Gill
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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