Pastor-Teacher Series: Ephesians 4:12-The Three-Fold Purpose of the Spiritual Gift of Pastor-Teacher

Ephesians 4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called, 4:2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 4:3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you too were called to the one hope of your calling, 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 4:7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 4:8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he captured captives; he gave gifts to men.” 4:9 Now what is the meaning of “he ascended,” except that he also descended to the lower regions, namely, the earth? 4:10 He, the very one who descended, is also the one who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things. 4:11 It was he who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 4:12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ. (NET)

There are three prepositional phrases in verse 12 which express the three-fold purpose of the Lord Jesus Christ providing the church with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher.

“For the equipping of the saints” is composed of the preposition pros (πρός), “to” and the articular accusative masculine singular form of the noun katartismos (καταρτισμός), “equip” and the articular genitive masculine plural form of the adjective hagios (ἅγιος), “the saints.”

The preposition pros plus the accusative katartismos in Ephesians 4:13 not only expresses purpose but is also used adverbially to express the manner in which this training is to take place.

The preposition pros means, “face to face,” and implies a close intimate personal intercourse with someone.

In Ephesians 4:12, pros plus the adverbial accusative noun katartismosexpresses the face-to-face manner of training in the Word of God that the believer is to receive from his divinely ordained pastor-teacher.

The first purpose in giving the body of Christ the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher is to train members of the body of Christ to operate in their spiritual gift by communicating the Word of God to them in a face-to-face manner.

The apostle Paul under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit does not use the preposition eis(εἰς) here as he does in the following prepositional phrases becausehe wants to emphasize the manner in which the training is to take place.

The noun katartismos is from the katartizo word group and is a medical term in classical Greek denoting the “setting of the bone.”

It also has a more general meaning “preparation, equipment, equipping,” and it also can be translated “training,” or “discipline.”

Plutarch used the word twice of education with paideia (παιδεία) (Themistocles and Alexander).

Paideia (παιδεία) referred to a child’s training, teaching and its goal was for the child to become an obedient and useful citizen of the community.

The training was designed to produce character, self-control and courage.

Katartismos refers to the training one receives which equips them to serve in a particular capacity.

In Ephesians 4:12, the word refers to the training in the Word of God received by the church age believer in a face to face manner by the function of the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher, which in turn equips them to operate in their spiritual gift, which is designed to edify the body of Christ.

“To equip the saints” refers to the pastor-teacher training individual members of the body of Christ under his spiritual authority for Christian service by communicating the Word of God in a face to face manner.

“For the work of ministry” is composed of the preposition eis (εἰς), “for” and the accusative neuter singular noun ergon (ἔργον), “the work” and the genitive feminine singular form of the noun diakonia (διακονία), “of service.”

The preposition eis (εἰς) plus the accusative denotes a purpose or a goal in time.

The anarthrous construction of the noun ergon, “work” emphasizes the quality of the noun and therefore, the quality or character of the work involved here and this quality is defined by the noun diakonia (διακονία), “service,” which is an epexegetical genitive.

The noun diakonia (διακονία) explains or defines the quality of the work here, namely it is work, which is Christian service to the body of Christ.

Furthermore the anarthrous construction of the noun diakonia (διακονία)indicates the quality or character of the service, namely, Christian service.

Therefore, the second prepositional phrase eis ergon diakonias, “for work, which pertains to Christian service.”

This second prepositional phrase refers to the fact that the function of the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher provides the believer the capacity to operate in his spiritual gift and therefore, to take part in Christian service, which produces divine good.

The communication of bible doctrine trains and prepares the believer for Christian service, which produces divine good.

The progression of these prepositional phrases here in Ephesians 4:12 indicates that the training of the believer through the communication of the Word of God in a face to face manner by the man with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher precedes Christian service.

The prepositional phrase pros ton katartismon tōn hagiōn (πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν τῶν ἁγίων), “to equip the saints” preceding the prepositional phrase eis ergon diakonias (εἰς ἔργον διακονίας), “for the work of ministry” emphasizes the fact that the believer must first receive training from their right pastor-teacher before they are to serve.

The function of the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher provides the necessary training needed to perform effective Christian service.

The first prepositional phrase pros ton katartismon tōn hagiōn (πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν τῶν ἁγίων), “for the face to face training of the saints,” states that the initial purpose of the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher is to communicate the Word of God to the believer in a face-to-face manner.

This leads to the second prepositional phrase, which refers to the fact that the function of the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher provides the believer the capacity to perform Christian service, which produces divine good of intrinsic value that will be rewarded at the Bema Seat that will be conducted by the Lord Jesus Christ.

The third purpose for the Lord Jesus Christ providing the body of Christ with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher is expressed by yet a third prepositional phrase.

“That is, to build up the body of Christ” is composed of the preposition eis (εἰς), “that is” and the accusative feminine singular form of the noun oikodome (οἰκοδομή), “to build up” and the articular genitive neuter singular form of the noun sōma (σῶμα), “the body” and the articular genitive masculine singular form of the proper name Christos (Χριστός), “of Christ.”

The preposition eis (εἰς) plus the accusative means, “for,” and expresses the ultimate purpose for the Lord Jesus Christ bestowing the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher to the body of Christ.

In Ephesians 4:12, oikodome (οἰκοδομή) has both a metaphorical and collective connotation and should be translated “construction, building up,” or “building process.”

In Ephesians 4:12, this word refers to the building up of the Body of Christ.

The noun Christos (Χριστός) is a genitive of possession expresses the fact that the body mentioned here in Ephesians 4:12 belongs to Christ who is the Head of the body.

The third prepositional phrase eis oikodomēn tou sōmatos tou Christou (εἰς οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ): “For the ultimate purpose of the construction of the body belonging to Christ.”

Ephesians 4:11 And He (the Lord Jesus Christ) gave the apostles, and the prophets, and the evangelists, and the pastor-teachers 12 for the face to face training of the saints for the work, which pertains to Christian service, for the ultimate purpose of the construction of the body belonging to Christ. (Lecturer’s Translation)

The Lord Jesus Christ provided the body of Christ with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher in order to train in a face to face manner each individual member of the body of Christ.

This in turn enables the believer to perform Christian service resulting in the spiritual growth of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 3:9; 1 Pet. 2:5).