To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.

Last time we looked at the men whom God has given as gifts to His church. In verse 12 we see the purpose, and then next time in verse 13 we will see the goal.

So, why did God give these gifted men to the church?

To equip the saints. Other words that could be use would be to mend, or to make fit, or to perfect. The idea is that these leaders and teachers are helping individual believers in the church, and the church as a whole to be better equipped to live out the Christian life and to serve God.

The next phrase in this verse says, “for the building up the body of Christ.” The question is, is this a second part of the job or is it the result? Does it mean these men are to equip the saints for ministry so that the body can be built up? Or does it mean 1) equip the saints for service, and 2) build up the body of Christ?

I think it’s both. The leaders themselves are not able to build the body. Every part of the body is to be working together, using their own gifts to do their part. The leaders are to equip the body so that the body can be more effective at maturing itself (See Ephesians 4:16).

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And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers.

In verse 11, we find out what the gifts are that were referred to in verse 8. These are men whom Jesus, the head of the church, has given to serve His body.

Apostles – these are limited to the apostles who were alive at the time of Christ. According to Ephesians 2:20, the apostles and prophets make up the foundation of the church with Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone.

The word “apostle” means “sent one.” These are men, chosen by Christ himself, and who He then sent to announce the good news of the Gospel.

Prophets – These are men who are gifted to proclaim and explain the word of the Lord. It is not just limited to those who foretell the future. It has to do with proclaiming the Word of God in an effective way so that through the Holy Spirit there is conviction and instruction that reaches the heart.

Evangelists – Those who have been particularly gifted and called by God to preach the gospel in such a way that souls are saved and brought into the life of Christ by faith.

Shepherd teachers – Another word for shepherd here would be pastors. There is a different construction in the language here that makes me think that this is one position, not two. Another way to describe it in our language would be teaching pastor.

In the New Testament, pastor and elder and bishop are all the same position. One of the chief qualifications for being a pastor is the ability to teach (1 Timothy 3:2).

These men, and the various gifts that they possess are themselves gifts from God to His church.

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(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

In verse 8, Paul cites Psalm 68:18 which says When he ascended on high….

Verses 9-10 explain parenthetically what that means. In saying “He ascended,” that must bean that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth. Why? Because Christ came from on high and had no where else to ascend to. So, if he ascended, it must mean that he had first descended.

After having descended, the fact that he ascended means that he ascended all the way back up, far above all the heavens, to the dwelling place of God Himself. And then the verse goes on to say “that he might fill all things.” Jesus is God, and God fills all things, even as we saw in Ephesians 1:23.

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Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”

Therefore it says…. What says? It’s a quote from the Old Testament, Psalm 68:18.

This verse tells us that Jesus did 2 things when he ascended on high. First, he led a host of captives, and second, he gave gifts to men. The second part is what we are dealing with here in Ephesians, but let’s take a minute to look at the first part.

Colossians 2:15 tells us that Christ disarmed principalities and power and made a public spectacle of them. A conquering king usually led a procession of the captives after a great victory. This is what Jesus did with the principalities and power. The NKJV translates verse 8 to say that He led captivity captive. Even captivity itself became a captive of our great king!

Now the second part – he gave gifts to men. That is going to be the topic of this chapter starting in verse 11. But to summarize what is coming, Paul is going to explain that Jesus, having ascended to glory, distributed gifts to the church. These gifts are people who are equipped to help God’s people grow.

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One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Paul has told us that there is one body and one Spirit. He is stressing the fact that we should be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit.

He continues now in verses 5 and 6 with additional “ones.”
There is one Lord. This, of course, is referring to Jesus Christ. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 8:5-6, “For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”

There is one faith. There are, of course, may faiths, but there is only one true faith. In our day, people believe there can be many contradicting truths. But the Bible claims that is is the true faith, and therefore the only faith.

One baptism. There is debate as to the mode of baptism, i.e. sprinkling, pouring, immersion. And of course, there is the discussion of believers baptism versus infant baptism. But when it comes down to it, there is only one, and that one is Christian baptism. The debate is not are there multiple baptisms. The Bible says there is one.

There is one God and Father of all. I would refer you back to the parallel passage in 1 Corinthians that I quoted earlier.

This one God is over all and through all and in all. He is the one who made everything. We exist because of Him. He is omnipresent, meaning He is everywhere and sees everything. He pervades all of time and space. You can’t flee from His presence whether you visit heaven or hell. He is there. Psalm 139:8.

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There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—

Verse 4 brings us to a statement of fact. There is one body and one Spirit. The church is the body of Christ and each true Christian believer is a member of that one body. Member is not member in the sense of a Lion’s Club member. It is meant in the way that your finger, ear, and leg are members of your body. We’ll get into more of this later, but even though there are many local churches, there is one body. A Christian who is a member of a particular church in the U.S. is part of the same body as a Christian who is a member of a church in Germany or Nigeria.

There is one Spirit. Just as you have a spirit that pervades your body, there is one Spirit, the Holy Spirit, that is at work throughout the body of Christ world wide. As Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 12, there are different manifestations, different workings, but the same God and Spirit that is at work throughout the body.

Paul has just told us in verse 3 that we are to maintain the unity of the Spirit. The reason is because there is only one Spirit in the church.

Finally our calling as believers is focused on just one hope. There are not multiple hopes. As Paul writes in Colossians 1:27 – Christ in you the hope of glory. When all is said and done, Jesus Christ will be the focus of the entire universe. Christians, who have trusted in Christ, will rule and reign with Him in glory as joint-heirs with Him of that glory.

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Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

This is a short verse which basically completes the sentence of the first two verses.

We are supposed to walk in a manner worthy of our calling. We are to do this with humility and gentleness with patience and forbearance. Part of the goal here is to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

What does it mean to keep the unity of the Spirit. In the next verse, Paul is going to tell us that there is one body, one Lord, one baptism, one God and father. So, there already is a unity of the Spirit. God is one. There is no division in Him. The body is one, and so there is no actual division in it organically, even though outwardly it seems as though there are many divisions.

So our goal in living in a way that our calling demands requires that we should be eager to maintain that unity. We have to do all we can to keep the unity. We can’t control what others do.

The unity is held together by a bond of peace. Romans 12:18 tells us that as much as it lies within us, we should live peaceably with all men. Especially in the body this should be true. All that was said about humility, gentleness, patience and forbearance is aimed at making that bond of peace possible. And this results in maintaining the unity of the Spirit.

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With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

Paul has said that we should walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which we have been called. In verse 2, he goes on to explain what the characteristics of that walk, or life-style, should be.

First, with all humility. Other words could have been meekness or lowliness. We are to live in a way that esteems others better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3). We shouldn’t be trying to make ourselves the center of attention. We shouldn’t assume that what we have to say is more important than what others have to say. Humility

Next we have the word gentleness. Gentleness means, well, gentleness. Being kind, tender, mild-mannered, with a soft touch. Humility and gentleness go together, don’t they?

Next, patience. Another word for patience would be long-suffering. The Greek word means stretched out. A person who is patient is one who is able to handle being stretched. On a trivial scale, you know how it is to wait for someone who is late arriving. Five minutes of waiting isn’t bad, but as time goes on and it becomes a half hour or longer, you begin to wonder how much longer you are going to have to wait for the person to arrive for the appointment. Sometimes you feel stretched to some kind of breaking point. Being able to endure that stretching is the idea behind patience.

Next, bearing with one another in love. Notice, it’s not just bearing with one another. You could do that with impatience and anger. This is bearing with in love. Bearing means forbearing, putting up with, enduring. Being like this is quite the challenge isn’t it?

All of these are speaking about all our relationships, but especially in the family and the church. God puts people together who are very different. There are attitudes and reactions and idiosyncrasies in other people that are difficult to be patient with and to put up with. But God says that the characteristics mentioned in this verse are necessary if we are to live in a manner that is befitting the calling that we have received from God.

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