Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to Ephesians · About this commentary
Until We All Attain
Ephesians 4:11-13
11 He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers; · WEB
The offices are given for the sake of everyone else's work, and the goal set for the body is a full-grown man.
The gifts of verse 11 are people rather than abilities: he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers. The last pair is joined in the Greek in a way the others are not, which has long been taken to describe one office with two functions.
Verse 12 states what they were given for, and the sentence is the most consequential in the chapter. The offices exist for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body.
The order matters. Those given are not the ones who do the work; they equip the saints, and the saints do it. The word for perfecting is a mending and fitting term — the same used of setting a bone or repairing nets — so what the offices produce is a congregation in working order rather than an audience.
Verse 13 gives the terminus, and it is corporate: until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. Not until each individual arrives, but until the body does.
The image then shifts to a person growing up: to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. The body of Christ is described as maturing toward the size of Christ himself, which sets a standard no congregation reaches and gives the work no natural stopping point.
What the passage does not do is describe the goal as numerical or institutional. Growth here is measured in maturity, and the next verses say what immaturity looks like Ephesians 4:14.
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