Ephesians 4.12b-The Work of Service
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday February 18, 2025
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 4:12b-The Work of Service
Lesson # 230
Ephesians 4:7 Now, however, to each one of us grace was given corresponding to the incomparable Christ’s proportionate gracious giving. 8 Therefore, it says, “When he ascended to the highest place, he captured captives. He generously gave gifts to certain members of the human race.” 9 In other words, what is the meaning of the statement, “he ascended?” Namely that, he also descended into the lower regions, which are part of the earth? 10 He, the very one who has descended is the one who also has ascended above each and every one of the heavens in order that He would enter into the state of bringing to completion each and every animate and inanimate object. 11 Therefore, on the one hand, He Himself generously gave some to be apostles but on other hand, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors, specifically, teachers 12 for the purpose of equipping the saints for performing the work of service in order to ultimately build up the members of Christ’s body. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 4:12 is composed of three prepositional phrases:
(1) pros ton katartismon tōn hagiōn (πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν τῶν ἁγίων), “for the purpose of equipping the saints” (Author’s translation)
(2) eis ergon diakonias (εἰς ἔργον διακονίας), “for performing the work of service” (Author’s translation)
(3) eis oikodomēn tou sōmatos tou Christou (εἰς οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ), “in order to ultimately build up the members of Christ’s body” (Author’s translation).
Now, in the second prepositional phrase in Ephesians 4:12, the noun ergon (ἒργον), “work” pertains to actions performed by the church age believer while in fellowship with God and are produced by the Holy Spirit through them when they exercise faith in the Word of God, which the Holy Spirit inspired.
This faith results in obedience to the will of the Father, which is revealed by the Spirit in the Word of God.
It speaks of the works or actions that the Holy Spirit performs through the church age believer as a result of their faith in the Word of God, which results in obedience to the various commands and prohibitions in the Word of God, which are inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The noun diakonia (διακονία), “service” pertains to a position or role of service and is used in a general sense for Christian “service” of all kinds.
It functions as an objective genitive, which indicates that Christian service receives the action of being performed through various activities by the church age believer.
The noun ergon (ἒργον) is the object of the preposition eis (εἰς), which functions as a marker of purpose, which means that it indicates the purpose for which the Lord Jesus Christ gave the spiritual gifts of apostleship, prophecy and teaching to certain men in the body of Christ for the purpose of equipping the saints.
Therefore, this indicates that the Lord Jesus Christ gave the spiritual gifts of apostleship, prophecy and teaching to certain men in the body of Christ in order to equip the saints “for the purpose of” performing the work of Christian service.
Therefore, this second prepositional phrase in Ephesians 4:12 refers to Christian service, which can be performed at home, or on your job and in your marriage.
The reason is that Christian service is any action that the believer performs while he is in fellowship with God and obedient to the Word of God, which in turn enables the believer to perform the will of God.
The believer can serve God anywhere, any place and anytime when he adheres to this principle and not just within the four walls of a church building.
One must be motivated in order to accomplish anything in life.
The same holds true in Christian service.
One must be properly motivated in order to perform Christian service that is acceptable to God.
Motivation is that which prompts a person to act in a certain way, the goal of one’s actions.
Christian service if it is to be acceptable to God must be motivated by our love for who and what God is, what He has done for us and the manner in which He loved us at the cross (Romans 5:6-8).
We noted earlier that in order for our service to be accepted by God, we must be in fellowship and obedient to the Word of God, which in turn enables the believer to perform the will of God.
This is the first step because serving God runs deeper than this first step.
Why should we serve God by being obedient to His will? Love!
Christian service if it is to be acceptable to God must be the response in the soul that is characterized by love for who and what God is, what He has done for us and the manner in which He loved us at the cross.
The believer who serves God with proper motivation will do so out of a heart of love and appreciation for God loving him in the manner in which He did at the cross.
Since God the Father loved us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His Son and the Son loved us so much that He was willing to become a member of the human race and die for our sins on the cross, it is only right that we should reciprocate in turn by serving God willingly, out of a heart of love and appreciation for Him loving us in the manner in which He did at the cross.
Christian service is based upon the principle of reciprocal love, meaning that Christian service is the response by the believer to God self-sacrificially loving him in the manner in which He did at the cross and reciprocating by self-sacrificially loving God in return and in the same manner.
The manner in which God loved us was through self-sacrifice.
We as believers are to serve God by sacrificing our will and desires in order to fulfill the will and desire of God (John 12:25-26).
Christian service is the response of the believer’s whole being to the manner in which God loved him at the cross.
The believer must first learn who God is and how He loves us in order to love God the way that He wants to be loved in return and how He wants us to love others (Matthew 11:29-30).
God’s love was expressed at the cross-when He sacrificed His Son.
The believer is to imitate God’s love by loving God and others sacrificially, thus, service on behalf of God and men must be based upon the self-sacrificial love of God, which serves as our motivation for Christian service and is to be directed toward both God and man.
Christian service must be based upon the principle of agape, “divine-love,” which has two directions:
(1) Vertical: Self-sacrificial love for God as motivation for Christian service.
(2) Horizontal: Self-sacrificial love for all mankind in order to function in Christian service.
Mark 12:28 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD.’ 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’” 31 The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (NASB95)
The believer who knows God can love and serve God the way that God wants to be loved and served, whereas the believer who does not know God cannot love and serve Him as He wants to be loved and served.
We cannot love and serve God and others the way that God wants us to, unless we first learn how God loved and served us (1 John 3:16-18; 4:7-21).
The love of God in which we are to operate toward others is described in other passages (Romans 13:10; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
Every believer will have to give an account of himself to the Lord at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the Church (1 Cor. 3:11-15).
It is at this time that it will be determined by the Lord if the believer was an unprofitable or profitable servant during his life after salvation.
The profitable servant is a good steward whereas the unprofitable servant was a bad steward.
A steward is a manager, not an owner and he is one who manages the property of another.
God is the owner and we are the managers of the various stewardships He has given but to be good stewards of His grace, we must know the precise areas of stewardship for which God is holding us accountable.
Church age believers are to be good stewards with their talent (they are to operate in their spiritual gifts) and treasure (they are to financially support each other when necessary) and truth (they are to apply the Word of God in their relationships with each other).
Time: Galatians 6:9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. 10 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.
Talent: 1 Peter 4:10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
Treasure: Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure -- pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.
Truth: Colossians 4:5 Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.
