Jesus gave apostles and prophets (who communicated
God's Will to us today through God's Holy Word [the
inspired writings which we have today in the Bible]); evangelists
(for the spreading of the Gospel [those inspired writings] to the
lost and for encouraging God's people today); elders (who, in
their function as shepherds of the flock, both lead and teach in
order to build up the local congregation).
The key to understanding what Paul was teaching here is (as
always) to keep in touch with the context of these verses.
There are several statements in Ephesians 4 which
would clue us in to the context--"walk worthy of the
vocation wherewith ye are called" (verse 1);
"walk not as other Gentiles walk..." (verse
17); "put off...the old man..."
(verse 22); "put on the new man..."
(verse 24); then onward throughout the remainder of
Ephesians, there are exhortations to obedience and
righteous living. So, the context may be seen as an
exhortation to these Gentile Christians to walk (live their lives)
in a godly manner.
Next, there are a few other statements made by Paul which are
key. In looking at Ephesians 4:11, let's
note that Paul nearly always explains what he means. He
states that Jesus has provided the following: apostles,
prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Then, he tells
us why these were provided: for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry and for the building up of the body of
Christ. What's important to understand here is that the
emphasis is on the "people" -- apostles, prophets,
evangelists and what we might call "teaching
elders." These people (identified in terms of the
functions they fulfill) are instrumental in doing what is necessary
so that the saints may stand blameless before God (the perfecting
of the saints); in spreading the Gospel of Christ to the lost (the
work of the ministry -- primarily the function of an
evangelist); and in building up the local congregation of the
church (edifying the body of Christ -- by ruling and teaching
the Truth, the function of a faithful eldership).
So what is the meaning of verse 13
("until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge
of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure
of the fullness of Christ." - NIV)? Again, the answer
is supplied by Paul and found in the local context. Let us
not get caught up in that word "Till" (KJV) or
"Until" (NIV, and others), as if there would come (in
the life of a Christian or a congregation of the church) a time
when the teachings of the apostles and prophets (found in the
Bible) or the work of evangelists or the shepherding of elders
would not be necessary. Verse 13 is basically
telling us that the goal of the aforementioned
"leaders" (and yes, we may correctly call them leaders)
has been in the past and will continue to be ensuring that the
church is united in doctrine (teaching), in the knowledge of Jesus
and of His teaching (both individually and through inspired
writers), in striving to ensure the spiritual maturity of each and
every saint, and teaching that we must all strive to follow in the
footsteps of Jesus.
Then we look at verse 14 ("Then we will
no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown
here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and
craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming." - NIV) to
learn what the ultimate goal is for the leaders Paul
mentions. Jesus gave the world and the church apostles,
prophets, evangelists and teaching pastors (elders) so that we (the
church and individual Christians) might no longer be tossed to and
fro, carried about by every different kind of doctrine taught by
those who want only to deceive the church and the saved.
(Also see b and c below.)
