Ephesians 4:11-12

The Text: And he gave some (to be) apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ:

The Meaning Given To It: The "three-fold work of the local church"---edifying the body, benevolence to needy saints and preaching the gospel---is, according to many, what these verses are teaching. And while we agree that these are activities that local congregations are authorized to make provision for, determining that does not come from this text. One reaches that conclusion by reading the book of Acts and the various epistles to find out what activities brethren engaged in when they acted collectively in "local church" arrangements.

The Context: Chapter 4 begins with the words "I therefore...", indicating that what is about to be said is based upon what has already been discussed. In chapters 1-3, Paul expounded upon the great theme of God's glorious grace, detailing what God, through His unmerited favor, has done for mankind. Now, in the second half of the epistle, the apostle sets forth how those who have been saved by God's grace ought to conduct themselves, how they can "be unto the praise of his glory," 1:12. This is the significance of "therefore" in 4:1---because of what God's grace has done for you, here is how you ought to live.

Vss. 1-3 contain an admonition to unity.

Vss. 4-6 set forth the basis of that unity.

Vs. 7 states that "grace" has been given to "each one". This is that which all the Ephesians had received and experienced in being saved (1:6,7; 2:5,7,8).

Vs. 8 tells us that "gifts" have been given. Just as all the Ephesians had received a full measure of grace, all had received certain gifts. The word "gift" here (as well as in vs. 7) is not "charisma", the word for spiritual gifts found in 1 Cor. 12, but "doma."

(Vss. 9-10 are parenthetical, speaking of an ascension and a descension of Christ).

Vss. 11-12 outline what these gifts were and why they were given.

Vss. 13-16 describe the ultimate end of the working of these gifts.

The Meaning: There are at least three things about this context that should keep us from reaching the conclusion that is generally accepted and help us arrive at a correct conclusion:

1-Nothing is said about the collective work of saints in a local church arrangement.

2-There is a significant difference in the prepositions in vs. 12 that is not indicated in the KJV ("for" all three times) but is in the ASV and most other translations.

3-The word "perfecting," doesn't mean "the work of edifying the body" and "building up the body of Christ" is not a reference to "...plant, establish where it (the church, DS) is not known, enlarge the borders thereof by bringing others into it by the preaching of the gospel...evangelizing the world with the gospel" (see Walking By Faith, Roy Cogdill, p.7).

The "gifts" given were the men who were "apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor-teachers." What was the work of these men? It was for (Grk. "pros") the perfecting (Grk. "katartismos," preparing, making ready) of the saints unto (Grk. "eis") something. "Unto" what? (1) Unto the work of ministering (Grk. "diakonia," service) and (2) unto the building up (Grk. "oikodome," edifying) of the body of Christ.

It is interesting that what this passage really teaches is not quite what we find among God's people today. Who is it that is to do the "work of ministering"? Not the evangelists...they were to equip the saints to do that job. Who was to do the work of "building up the body of Christ"? Again, not the evangelists but the saints. The work of the "gifts"---the men---mentioned in our text was to prepare the saints "for" these two activities. And this, rather than "the three-fold work of the church" is what our text teaches.

David Smitherman