Summary of the Contents of Ephesians 4.11-13
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday March 20, 2025
Ephesians Series: Summary of the Contents of Ephesians 4:11-13
Lesson # 237
Ephesians 4:11 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 13 until each and every one of us as a corporate unit attains to experiencing the unity produced by obedience to the one and only Christian faith. Correspondingly, until all of us without exception attains to the unity produced by an experiential knowledge of God’s Son. Until each and every one of us as a corporate unit attains to experiencing a mature man. Until all of us without exception attains to experiencing proportionately to the full stature of the one and only Christ’s character. (Lecturer’s translation)
To summarize the contents of Ephesians 4:11-13, Paul teaches in Ephesians 4:11, the Lord Jesus Christ generously gave the spiritual gifts of apostleship, prophecy, evangelism and teaching to certain men in the body of Christ at the moment of justification through the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit.
The function of the gifts of apostleship, prophecy and teaching is to communicate the Christian faith to the members of the body of Christ and are designed to benefit the body of Christ.
The function of these gifts will result in the spiritual growth of the body when members of this body obey the Christian faith as communicated to them by those with these three communication gifts.
On the other hand, the gift of evangelism benefits the unregenerate community and to provide numerical growth in the body of Christ.
Next, in Ephesians 4:12, Paul presents the purpose of these three communication gifts being given to the church.
He teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ generously gave the spiritual gifts of apostleship, prophecy and teaching to certain men in the body of Christ at the moment of justification through the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of equipping the saints.
This equipping of the saints would involve communicating the Christian faith to them.
This in turn would provide the saints with the capacity to perform the work of Christian service.
The purpose is that the members of the body of Christ would be built up spiritually as a result of each of them serving through the function of their gifts.
Lastly, in Ephesians 4:13, Paul teaches that each member of the body of Christ attaining to the unity produced by obedience to the Christian faith in the future is contingent upon the function of the gifts of apostleship, prophecy and teaching and will be the result of the function of these gifts.
It is important to point out that in Ephesians 4:12 the equipping of the saints speaks of communicating the Christian faith to each member of the Christian community as a corporate unit in a public setting where all members are assembled together (cf. Acts 2:42-47).
This we noted provides the individual members the capacity to function in their gifts, which in turn profits spiritually the body of Christ as a corporate unit because the function of these gifts builds up spiritually the body of Christ individually and ultimately as a corporate unit.
Ephesians 4:13 presents the future contingency of this taking place in that it will result in each member of the body of Christ attaining to the unity produced by obedience to the Christian faith.
This speaks of each individual believer obeying the Christian faith which was taught them by those with the gifts of apostleship, prophecy and teaching.
Secondly, Paul teaches that each member of the Christian community attaining to the unity produced by an experiential knowledge of God’s Son in the future is also contingent upon the function of the gifts of apostleship, prophecy and teaching and will be the result of the function of these gifts.
This too is the result of each member obeying the Christian faith as taught to them by those with these three communication gifts.
Furthermore, the function of these three communication gifts present the future contingency in that it will result in each member of the Christian community attaining to a mature man, i.e., spiritual maturity.
This too is the result of each member obeying the Christian faith as taught to them by those with these three communication gifts.
Lastly, the function of these three communication gifts presents the future contingency in that it will result in each member of the Christian community attaining to experiencing proportionately to the full stature of the one and only Christ’s character.
This we noted defines specifically the meaning of attaining to a mature man and this too is the result of each member obeying the Christian faith as taught to them by those with these three communication gifts.
Therefore, the common denominator with the function of the gifts of apostleship, prophecy and teaching is the communication of the Christian faith.
The latter is that doctrine or teaching which has been delivered to the church by the Holy Spirit and is believed by the church and practiced or obeyed by the church.
Correspondingly, the common denominator of the future contingency and result of the function of these gifts is the communication of the Christian faith to the Christian community by those with these three communication gifts.
Consequently, the unity experientially among the members of the body of Christ is based upon obedience to the Christian faith as communicated by those with these three communication gifts.
Correspondingly, the spiritual growth of the individual members of the Christian community is also based upon obedience to the Christian faith as communicated by those with these three communication gifts.
So therefore, the individual spiritual growth of believers and their spiritual growth in a corporate sense in the future is contingent upon and will be the result of the function of these three communication gifts.
In fact, the individual spiritual growth of each individual believer, which is contingent upon obedience to the Christian faith which results in an experiential knowledge of God’s Son, results in believers experiencing unity with each other.
From the perspective of the individual believer, the function of each of these three communication gifts is to communicate the Christian faith to the members of the Christian community, which provides believers the capacity to serve in their gifts and each other, which in turn builds up the individual members of the body of Christ.
It will also result in the spiritual growth of these individual members resulting in spiritual maturity or Christ-likeness if the believer remains faithful in obeying the Christian faith.
From the perspective of the church as a corporate unit, the function of each of these three communication gifts is to communicate the Christian faith to the members of the Christian community whose obedience to the Christian faith results in believers experiencing unity when interacting with each other.
Therefore, it is also very important that the believer understands that this future contingency and resultant state implies that it is only a possibility that members of the body of Christ will experience unity when interacting with each other.
Also, it implies that it is only a possibility that they will possess an experiential knowledge of God’s Son individually.
Lastly, it also implies that it is only a possibility that the individual members of the body of Christ will grow to spiritual maturity.
These are all possibilities because these things becoming a reality are based upon the believer’s response to the communication of the Christian faith by those with the gifts of apostleship, prophecy and teaching or today, to the gift of teaching.
In other words, believers can only experience unity with each other if they themselves obey the Christian faith and correspondingly, they can only experience spiritual maturity if they obey the Christian faith.
This is why Paul in Ephesians 4:13 with these four indefinite temporal clauses mentions the believer’s obedience to the Christian faith first because everything else he mentions in the last three indefinite temporal clauses are contingent upon the believer obeying the Christian faith.
A comparison of Ephesians 4:3 and 13 would indicate that everything Paul mentions in these final three indefinite temporal clauses is contingent upon the believer obeying the Holy Spirit, who is the divine author of the Christian faith.
One last problem needs to be addressed with regards to the content of Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 4:13, namely, when Paul speaks of spiritual maturity in this verse, is speaking of this maturity in time and in an experiential sense?
Or is he speaking of spiritual maturity in an eschatological sense and specifically in the future when the believer is in a resurrection body or in a resurrection body after receiving rewards at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church?
I believe he is speaking of the believer attaining spiritual maturity in time because there will be no need for spiritual gifts when believers are perfected in a resurrection body because in a resurrection body the believer is perfected and thus this would leave no more room for spiritual growth.
Secondly, the contents of Ephesians 4:14 speak of the believer being able to reject false doctrine because they have received sound doctrine, i.e., the Christian faith from those who possess the gifts of apostleship, prophecy and teaching.
There will be no possibility of the believer being deceived while in a resurrection body because again, in a resurrection body, they will perfected and residing bodily in the presence of Jesus Christ Himself.
It also important that the believer understand that spiritual maturity is not equivalent to being made perfect because no believer can achieved spiritual perfection while living in the devil’s world and still possessing the old Adamic sin nature, which resides in the genetic structure of the physical body (Rom. 5:12-21; 6:6).
The believer must strive for perfection (Phil. 3:1-16) but knowing that this will never come to pass until their physical death or when they receive their resurrection body at the rapture of the church.
