Ephesians 4:1-16. Grow Up
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What does your body need to grow up?
You need things like food, liquid and sleep. Without those things, your body can’t survive. It’s pretty obvious—no surprises there.
But what about Jesus’ body? In Ephesians, the church is regularly referred to as Jesus’ “body” (1:23, 2:16, 4:12, 5:23, and 5:30). What does Jesus’ body need to grow up? The answer to this is less self-evident. Thankfully, Paul explains what the church needs.
In chapters 1-3, Paul has explained what God has done through his Son and Spirit to save his people and create a new humanity. He’s told them all about the calling they have received. In chapters 4–6, Paul unpacks the practical implications of this for his readers.
1. The Body Must Live in Unity (4:1–6)
What kind of life does Paul urge his readers to live? He urges them to live in unity. In verse 1, he writes:
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
Back in Ephesians 2:2, we read that they had previously “lived” or “walked” following the ways of the world. Now, since they’ve received their calling as Christians, they are to “live” (or more literally, “walk”) in a manner worthy of that calling.
What does this look like? How do we walk in this manner worthy of our calling? In verses 2-6, Paul explains. This kind of life involves things like:
Humility — valuing others above yourself
Gentleness — the opposite of being rough with people
Patience — being able to wait for stuff
Love — seeking the good of others
They are to do this for the sake of unity. They have become “one”. That’s what they are. Now they are to live up to that new unity. Paul goes on to explain that the Christian faith involves a whole lot of “ones”. In verses 4-6, we see that there’s:
One body — that is, the church
One Spirit — that is, the Spirit that dwells in the church
One hope —that is, “the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people and his incomparably great power for us who believe” (1:18–19)
One Lord — that is, there’s one Lord Jesus (more often than not, the word “Lord” applies to Jesus in the NT—see here for more on that)
One faith — that is, there’s one shared truth—the gospel—that we rely upon for our salvation
One baptism — that is, there’s one entry point into the faith (whether it’s talking about inward baptism or outward baptism, the point remains the same)
One God — that is, there is only one God undergirding the entire Christian faith (more often than not, the word “God” applies to the Father in the NT—see here for more on that)
Given all of this unity and “one-ness” undergirding Christian identity, Christians must “make every effort” to pursue this unity in their relationships with each other (verse 3). This unity is ultimately created by the Spirit. Our job is to make visible the invisible reality of our unity.
2. The Body Is Equipped by Christ (4:7–13)
In verses 7–13, we see that Christ equips his body: “to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it” (verse 7).
In verse 8, Paul uses Psalm 68 to show that Jesus, having ascended to heaven and having taken captive his various enemies (the spiritual powers he’s defeated), now gives gifts to his people.
Verses 9-10 are a little confusing, but the point seems to be that if Christ went up to heaven, he must also have gone down first (this might mean Christmas, the cross, or even his descent to the realm of the dead). Now that he’s been lifted up to heaven, he’s able to give gifts to his body, and thus “fill the whole universe” with his presence.
What does Christ give his body? In verse 11, Paul mentions four gifts:
The apostles — literally, “the sent ones”. The apostles were eyewitnesses personally sent by the risen Christ (Acts 1:21-26) to lay the foundation of the church (e.g., the Twelve, Matthias, and even Paul himself—see Galatians 1:1).
The prophets — spokespeople who received and delivered God’s Word directly (e.g., Agabus in Acts 11:28 and Acts 21:10–11, Judas and Silas in Acts 15:32, guys from Antioch in Acts 13:1).
The evangelists — gifted gospel-sharers who help others come to faith in Christ (e.g., Philip in Acts 21:8; Timothy in 2 Tim 4:5).
The pastors and teachers — these are probably a combo deal (in the Greek, there’s one article (“the”) for the two words. Pastors are shepherds who look after Christ’s flock through care, protection, discipline, and encouragement. Teachers feed Christ’s flock by explaining and applying the Bible.
The apostles and prophets were unique to the New Testament period, while evangelists and “pastors and teachers” continue through to this day.
Why does Christ give them? Verse 12 tells us that Christ gives these people to the church “to equip his people for works of service”. Why works of service? “So that the body of Christ may be built up”. Why does he want people to be “built up”? So that we can become united in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God (verse 13). And what does that look like? So that we “become mature”. What does maturity mean? “Attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” What does that mean? Basically, being filled with Christ’s presence and power, thus becoming like him, all-the-while under his Lordship. That’s what Christian maturity is.
In other words, Christ gives the gifts (the apostles, prophets etc.) to his body to equip them so that they become more like Jesus. This is what Christian ministry is all about. Our ultimate goal is God’s glory, as we saw in Ephesians 1:3-14. But the more we grow into Christ’s likeness, and the more we are filled with his fullness, the more we will be able to fulfil this ultimate goal.
3. The Body Grows When Every Part Works (4:14–16)
In verses 14-16, Paul teases out how the body can grow, namely, when every part does its work. It seems likely that some in the Ephesians church weren’t heaps mature. They were babies or “infants”.
What’s the problem with staying an infant? Basically, if you stay an infant, you get “tossed back and forth by the waves” and get misled “by every wind of teaching” and cunning false teachers. You’re like a boat that is unstable and unbalanced. You’re that person who always falls for the latest fad of Bible teaching, or the newest silver bullet for ministry, that thing “guaranteed” to ensure your church grows. Or worse, you start watering down what the Bible says, avoiding the controversial or uncomfortable topics, or even completely ignoring what the Bible says. You don’t want to remain an infant.
How can the body grow to become mature? Answer: truthing in love. In verse 14, we’re instructed to continue “speaking the truth (literally, truthing) in love.” In other words, we’re to speak and live out the truth of the gospel in a way that is motivated by, shaped by, and expressed through love. When we do this, “we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ”. In other words, by speaking the truth in love, we will grow to be mature like Jesus. When we all do this, the body will grow.
In verse 16, Paul double-clicks on the body image. As a body, we’re “joined and held together by every supporting ligament”. What are these ligaments? We are! As we build each other up in love, we grow. As each one of us does this “work” of love, we will grow from infancy to maturity. You can’t do it on your own. We need each other.
What kinds of things can we do to ensure that we ourselves grow? Basically, all of the things Paul has just talked about.
We seek to live lives worthy of our calling.
We pursue the verse 2 virtues: humility, gentleness, patience, and love.
We make every effort to pursue unity.
We receive Christ’s gifts through the Scriptures (as recorded by the apostles) and via the mediation of the prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.
We speak and live out the truths of the gospel in love, pursuing the good of others.
How do we help others grow? Again, we do all the things mentioned above. And we seek to equip others to do the same, so that “each part does its work”.
Discussion Questions
Pray and Get Going
1. What things are needed for any human being to grow up?
Read Ephesians 4:1–16
2. What kind of life does Paul urge his readers to live in verse 1? What does this look like according to verses 2–6?
3. How does Christ equip his body in verses 7-13? Why does he do this?
4. What’s the problem with staying an infant? (verse 14)
5. How can the body grow mature? (verses 15-16)
6. What kinds of things can we do to ensure that we ourselves grow? How do we help others grow?
Pray and Give Thanks
Other Posts in this Series
Ephesians 1:1-14 (marticles.net/eph1a)
Ephesians 1:15-23 (marticles.net/eph1b)
Ephesians 2:1-10 (marticles.net/eph2a)
Ephesians 2:11-22 (marticles.net/eph2b)
Ephesians 3 (marticles.net/eph3)
Ephesians 4:1-16 (marticles.net/eph4a)
Ephesians 4:17-5:20 (marticles.net/eph4b)
Ephesians 5:22-6:9 (marticles.net/eph5b)
Ephesians 6:10-24 (marticles.net/eph6)
If a link doesn’t work, either the article hasn’t been written, or I’m bad at coding.
