EPHESIANS 4:12

Starting in Ephesians 4:12 we are being told exactly why Jesus gave the gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers to certain believers. The Bible tells us, “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” In this one verse three things are listed that will be accomplished by Christ. The first is called “the perfecting of the saints.” The word that is translated “perfecting” means to mend, to restore, to make complete. The saints, the holy ones, are holy because of their spiritual standing in Christ; but from a practical standpoint we are not everything that we need to be yet. God’s will is that you become saved by faith in Jesus and then that you become conformed to the image of Christ. One of the important elements in you becoming conformed to the image of Christ and in becoming everything that God wants you to be as a Christian is to hear the right teachings from God’s Word. Christ makes that possible by giving the gift of teaching to certain believers. That is one reason to go to church: to hear a teacher that Christ has given.

The second purpose for which Christ has given us pastors and teachers is “for the work of the ministry.” There is work that needs to be done, and the work that Christ wants to see accomplished will never get done unless everyone does their part. But everyone will not be able to do their part unless they grow spiritually in the knowledge of Christ, and they will not grow spiritually unless they receive the proper teachings. The problem is that there is a lot of work to do, and it will not get done unless each believer does his or her part. Perhaps the problem is that the work for Christ is not getting done. Let us go a little bit farther back into the problem. The real problem is that the teachings are not being taught. If the right teachings are taught by those gifted to teach, then the work will get done by those who hear the teachings and who grow in the knowledge of Christ. “The harvest is plenteous but the laborers are few.”

Jesus ascended on high and gave gifts unto men. He gave the gifts of pastors and teachers “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” To edify means to build up. The body of Christ needs to be built up, and it will only get built up when the pastors and teachers that Christ has gifted exercise their gift. To build up is the opposite of to destroy or to tear down. Anyone can tear others down. That is easy to do and comes naturally for sinful human nature. But to build someone up: to make them stronger and better through the good things that are said to them from God’s Word is an important thing to do. Jesus has given gifts to certain believers so that the work of building up would be done, not the work of tearing down. To build up you must be positive instead of negative. To build up you must talk about good things instead of bad things. To build up you must use God’s Word as opposed to man’s words. “As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby.”

The Bible says in Ephesians 4:13, “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.” How do you create unity among Christians? You teach the one true faith. True unity must be based upon sound doctrine. Never compromise sound doctrine for the sake of unity. When you teach sound doctrine, all of those who accept the sound biblical doctrine that you teach can become united with you. That is the “unity of the faith.”

Notice the emphasis in this verse on the Lord Jesus Christ. It speaks of the “knowledge of the Son of God,” and the “fullness of Christ.” Whatever you know about Jesus, there is more still to know about Him. There is more to experience about Jesus as the divine One, the all-powerful One. No matter what you are learning about Christianity or spiritual things, if you are not learning more about Jesus, then you are learning nothing. The old hymn-writer understood this concept very well in the song that starts out: “More about Jesus would I know, more of His grace to others show, more of his saving fullness see, more of his love who die for me.”

The phrase in Ephesians 4:13 that says, “unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,” speaks of maturity. As a matter of fact, that is exactly what the word that is translated “stature” means. It means maturity, something that takes time to be arrived at. It is the kind of maturity that takes years. A child does not become an adult in days or weeks or months. Of course, it is not just time only; but it is time hearing and learning and applying God’s Word centered on the person of Christ. You do not gain this kind of spiritual maturity over night, and you do not gain it without the proper diet of sound teachings from God’s Word. That is one of the things to look for in choosing a pastor: someone who has gone through this spiritual maturity process in Christ. “Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.”

Let’s look at the phrase “the fullness of Christ.” The result of sound biblical teaching coming from someone who has the gift is that believers will grow “unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” The fullness is everything that a believer ought to be in faith and in love and in service. The fullness of Christ means that Christ Himself will bring the fullness. Do not be half-empty in your faith in Christ and in your relationship with Him. Be full. Receive everything that He wants you to receive by faith. Christ brings the fullness by faith in Christ. Faith in Christ increases by hearing the wonderful teachings concerning Christ the Savior, Christ the Lord, and Christ the Son of God. The only way that someone will be able to teach these kinds of things about Christ so that people mature into the fullness of Christ will be by having the gift to teach. Look for someone who has the gift and then go listen to him or her.

Ephesians 4:14 gives another reason that we need to hear the sound biblical teachings that will be taught by someone who has a gift from Christ to teach. It says, “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” One of the realities of the world in which we live is the existence of false religious teachings. You are still a child in reference to the things of Christ if you have not yet matured due to hearing and learning sound teachings about this spiritual life, which is following Christ and which is taught in the Bible. If you are still a child spiritually speaking, then you are in grave danger of being deceived by some false teacher or false teaching that comes your way. You can be certain of one thing: false teachings will come your way. If the devil cannot get you to fall into the open immorality of the world, then he may very well attempt to get you going in the wrong direction from a religious standpoint so that your religious activities are fruitless or even destructive. The people who cannot be turned away from religion will be turned towards empty and vain religion whenever possible. But such a thing will only be possible when there is a lack of sound biblical teaching.

Notice where the false doctrines come from: they come from men. Jesus uses men to spread the truth, and the devil uses men to spread falsehood. That is why it speaks in this verse of the “sleight of men.” The word that is translated “sleight” is a word that refers to those who play at dice and means cunning and trickery because those who play at dice often resort to cunning and trickery. Some human beings who are not rightly related to Christ will say anything, absolutely anything in order to manipulate others: they will even use religious language to do it. They have verbal tricks up their sleeves. As this verse says, they have “cunning craftiness.” This is an emphasis upon the fact of how skilled they are, how wise they are, and how able they are to deceive. You will be no match for them unless you are well grounded in the scriptures.

In contrast to false teachers who teach that which is false and untrue, Ephesians 4:15 tells us how believers should be once they have heard good teachings from God’s Word. It says, “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.” Those who have the gift from Christ to teach God’s Word, speak the truth about God’s Word. And then, one result of this will be that the believers will go back to their home and into their communities and will speak the truth also. That is how the work of Christ gets done in the world: when everyone does their part. Those who have the gift to teach will never reach everyone who needs to hear. But when every believer speaks the truth in their walk in this world, then the truth is spread and the work of Christ is done.

There are deceivers in this world, but the believers in Jesus should be known as truth-tellers. Words of wise council, words of encouragement, and words of sound doctrine can and should be spoken at any given moment all over the community. Of course, this verse not only tells us what should be spoken: the truth; but it also tells us in what manner true things should be said: in a loving manner. Remember that the deceivers say what they say because they really have ill-will at heart. They want to use and abuse people for their own benefit or for the sake of their own ego. They have a deceitful reason for saying whatever they say. But for the true believers in Jesus, they have gained from Jesus their Savior a love for mankind. There is a connection between love and the true things that they say. Speaking the truth is not enough. You must speak the truth “in love” because people need to know that Christ loves them, and by the grace of God they will know it by what you say and how you say it. The truth without love will be cold and will drive people away from the truth. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” and therefore God wants that truth reflected by speaking His words in a loving way.

Notice that there is some kind of close connection between speaking the truth and growing in Christ. Right after this verse says “speaking the truth in love,” it says “may grow up into him in all things.” Perhaps that is the order in which things take place. First you learn the truth because you have gifted teachers, then you also become a speaker of truth in your personal life in the path that Christ gives you, and then you grow in Christ in all things. In other words you will not grow in Christ unless you hear from the Word the things you need to hear, and unless you say what you need to say. Why is there such a close connection between speaking the truth in love, and growing in Christ? That is because what you actually say will have a big impact on the person that you are and the person that you become. If you say words of doubt, then you will have more doubts. But if you speak words of faith when you speak, then that will help your faith be even stronger. If you say negative words, then you will become more negative. Speaking the truth in love, let us grow up into him in all things.

The Christian growth is growth into Christ. True Christianity has everything to do with Jesus. Thinking about Jesus, talking about Jesus, trusting in Jesus, praying to Jesus, worshipping Jesus in everything that you do. That is why it says, “in all things.” This includes the mundane things of life especially. Most of life is made up of the basic activities that we all do. So to be a Christian in those activities is to find greater ways to dedicate what you do to Christ and to do what you do with Him and for His glory. When you are saved, you begin a relationship with Jesus Christ. The purpose of that relationship as time goes on is to be closer to Him: “to grow up into Him in all things.”

After mentioning Christ in Ephesians 4:15, we are reminded once again of something very important about the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, we are to grow individually and personally in our relationship with Him; but we are never to forget that He is the head of the body. The strength of the body and the accomplishments of the body is the ultimate goal. Christ is the head of the body. No man is the head of the body. Christ is the head. As individual believers become more appropriately related to the head of the body, then they will also more properly find their place in the body. This truth is expressed in Ephesians 4:16 that says, “From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” Only Christ can make the individual members of the church fit together properly. The result will be that there will be “effectual working.” In other words, the work of the church will get done. The emphasis here is on the fact that every member of the body of Christ has an important part to play. This verse speaks of the whole body, every joint, and every part. When everyone gets involved under the headship of Christ and according to the part that Christ has for each to play, then the work of God gets done.

Notice that part of that work is: “the edifying of itself in love.” It is interesting that earlier in verse 12 it said that the pastors and teachers would be edifying the church through the gifts they have from Christ. But now in verse 16 it says that the church will edify itself. A church congregation can grow spiritually to the point that they begin edifying each other by the very fact of being fit together under the headship of Christ. There is always more growing to be done. There is more building up of the church that needs to be done. That is the work of God: to build up the church, not to tear it down or to tear any member of it down. If I am rightly related to Christ and His authority, the things that I do and say will help to build up the church, which is His body. This is the work of Christ, and this is His will for you.

___________________________________________________