Ephesians 4:11–12

Context

Ephesians 4 opens with the unity of the church: "There is one body, and one Spirit" (v. 4). In verse 7, Paul says that grace is given to every one according to the measure of the gift of Christ, and, quoting Psalm 68, he states that Christ ascended on high and gave gifts unto men (v. 8). The offices listed in verse 11 are those gifts, and verses 12–16 explain that their purpose is to build up the body of Christ until all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God and attain the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Interpretation

• As a basis for lay ministry: On this reading, verse 12 means that officeholders equip the saints (Greek katartismos, "equipping" or "making fit") so that the saints themselves carry out the work of ministry. The purpose of church office, then, is not for the pastor to minister alone but to prepare the saints for service. The discipleship training movement in Korea frequently appeals to this passage.
• As three parallel purposes: Another view, reflected in the King James Version ("For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ"), takes the perfecting of the saints, the work of the ministry, and the edifying of the body of Christ as three coordinate purposes, all of which belong to the officeholders. The question turns on where the commas are placed; most modern translations follow the first interpretation.
• "Pastors and teachers": In the original Greek these two terms are joined under a single article, so some interpreters regard them as two functions of the same person, while others regard them as separate offices. Accordingly, interpreters differ on whether the offices number four or five.

Debates

Reformed denominations and others holding a cessationist position regard apostles and prophets as temporary offices of the early church that laid the "foundation" of the church (Ephesians 2:20). Many Pentecostal and charismatic churches affirm the continuation of the gift of prophecy while tending to limit the apostolic office to the early church. By contrast, the New Apostolic Reformation promotes the so-called "fivefold ministry" and claims that authoritative apostles and prophets are still being raised up today; major denominations have criticized this teaching as a threat to the sufficiency of Scripture and to church order.

Related Passages

• Ephesians 2:20
• Ephesians 4:13–16
• 1 Corinthians 12:28
• 1 Peter 4:10–11