Attaining the Unity of the Faith: An In-Depth Analysis of Ephesians 4

Speaker A: 00:00:00

Good morning and welcome again to our study. We have been talking a great deal about first century leadership. We've looked at the four gifts as it's spoken in Ephesians 4.

They're gifts that Christ gave his people, the ecclesia, the called out class of people that were his own possession, his people.

I think probably as we continue this study, what we're going to find as we try to put everything together, is that some of the conclusions that we've reached from Ephesians 4 is based on the understanding of that time and the fact that they were living in the last days. Now we tend to think last days are yet to be, and they are for us and for life as we know it.

But as the New Testament speaks of these things, he's talking about a time that is very relevant and to them and the last days. We will talk a little bit more about that as we have opportunity.

And this morning we want to just begin the discussion emphasizing the duration of the gifts that Christ gave his people.

We have emphasized in the past several weeks that the context of New Testament fulfillment was in the very generation in which Christ accomplished his work of atonement and the Holy Spirit completed the unity of the faith.

The aim and purpose of this study in the next several sections together is to attempt to be honest with ourselves and our conclusions, to be willing to bend and change our own views in light of what the New Testament teaches, to rightly divide the intended duration of the Holy Spirit's work and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And to do that, we will try to pull the previous lessons together in order to make some sense out of all of it.

We have emphasized in the past that the Scriptures are letters written to people that lived in the first century with their own peculiar world and culture. And as a result, we must understand that they were not written to us.

These letters were written to people of the first century, to Christians, to saints in a certain city, sometimes with particular issues and problems that were unique to them. Not that there was any inconsistency in the teaching that Paul gave, but that there were various conditions that existed that was unique to them.

Corinth is a prime example of that situation. And so as a result of that, we must understand that they were not written to us.

But for us, looking at the Bible through those lenses, we are reading about an age that was predicted as early as the days of Adam and Eve, when in Genesis 3:15, the seed of woman would crush the head of the serpent, thereby bringing victory and redemption for the world. Well, we are here in Galatians 4. 4, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem those under the law.

So we're reading about what was predicted as far back as Adam and Eve and fulfilled in that century, the first century in Abraham's day and onward. God's people were expecting that day, expecting a day in which all people have the potential for reconciliation with God.

It was not promised to be fulfilled in their day, but would one day find its fulfillment when Christ the Messiah would arrive.

During those days, that is the last days and the immediate years following Christ's resurrection, the leadership was in the hands of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. We have been talking about those leaders in Ephesians 4. The list begins in verse 11, all of whom were guided by the Holy Spirit.

There can be no question that this is the case.

The significance of this conclusion is that the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised to send after he ascended to heaven, was working through these men in this transition from the old Jerusalem of the old age and the new Jerusalem of the new era, the new age. Jesus returned to fulfill the old world system.

And then he gave the role of a comforter to the Holy Spirit, who would then give gifts unto saints and empowered them. We've noted the purpose for that was at least twofold.

Not only was it to introduce or give evidence that the last days had come, because that was what was promised by Joel and Joel 2, but it was also to confirm that what was spoken by these men was in fact from God. It was giving testimony and and proof that the message was genuinely divine in origin.

And of course, the second overreaching purpose was to confirm that they were approved as his people, that they had been given a gift as a guarantee of their inheritance, as Paul teaches in chapter one of the Book of Ephesians. So bringing the text before us again, as we look at Ephesians 4, the text tells us how long these gifts were to last.

It reads, and he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ, so that we no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes.

Rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ, from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Now, the order in this list of gifts indicates the order of each one's introduction.

Not that they were handing off a baton so that the other one could quit running. That's not quite that way.

They were handing it off from the standpoint that there were apostles who could lay hands on others, and thereby through that measure could others could receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. However, that didn't mean that the apostles quit their work of revelation. So it's not quite in that sense.

But there is some reason for the order of that listing. From the standpoint that the apostles and prophets, they were receiving revelation, direct revelation from God.

And as far as the apostles were concerned, they had a great deal more gifts insofar as the power of miraculous powers, speaking in tongues and etc. Their work overlapped. Obviously, they shared this purpose of teaching.

They shared one common element, and all of them were in the field of equipping God's people for service. They had the same purpose, and they had the same time and duration. All of these fit under the same umbrella, but of course with a different scope.

Perhaps. But the rest of the body was given gifts of the Spirit to equip the body in the most effective way for the new kingdom age.

After stating the purpose of these gifts, Paul writes these words to show that these gifts of gifted men would continue until a certain definite state of things were attained. The word till is further explained by the phrase in order that we may arrive at and the benefit is for all the saints.

So the conditions to which the body would arrive are the unity of the faith, the knowledge of the Son of God, mature manhood, and the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. We're already told that the the body is the fullness of him that filleth all.

In all, these four conditions are intended to be reached through the work of these gifted men listed in verse 11. And so each of the four conditions also repeats with the Greek preposition eis, without any connecting particle.

So all four of them correspond to a stage of maturity. What existed when they were there was a state of immaturity and incompleteness.

I believe 1 Corinthians 13, which we'll have an occasion to discuss, is paralleled. It is gifts that the Holy Spirit gave during this infant period of time, during this transition from one age into the next.

But all four of these gifts, or these gifted men that were gifts to the Ecclesia, correspond to a stage of completion and are likened to the growth of the child who grows up to wisdom and strength and stature of the fullness of Christ. The debate in the translation of the Greek word here is whether it refers to a person's age or their stature.

Either way, though, we're describing the creation of God by producing one new man that has reached completion or maturity.

The stage had not yet been reached at the time that Paul is writing this letter, but the entire language of the adult man, and that's the value of using one air instead of anthropos, it reaches a certain stature or an age of adulthood. And that fits the context well.

Paul rightly uses the fullness to describe what is accomplished by the gifts of men given to the Ecclesia, the class of called out people. He's not speaking of each individual reaching some moral perfection.

That he reaches a state of perfection in Christ that is never attainable in this life. And that's usually how people tend to translate or understand this.

I'd like for you to consider now the contrasting and equivalent phrases within the same text that help us with this interpretation. First of all, this idea of the mature man, verse 13, is in contrast to children.

But the application pertains to the ability of this body of Christ to discern or to ascertain truth from error so that they're not tossed to and fro, you see, and the strength to remain steadfast in that truth. This was accomplished by the gifts that God gave the body.

The body that is fully equipped by the working of each individual part, will speak the truth in love and build itself in love so that it would cause the growth of the body.

Verses 14 through 16 teaches this, and it will lead to the unity of the faith, knowledge of Christ, spiritual maturity, and the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

So these four phrases describe the things needing to be achieved before these gifts that were given to God's people are completed, before they serve their purpose. Consider the application and the thought of each of these phrases. As we have time, we will proceed to discuss them one at a time.

First of all, he mentions till we all attain to the unity of the faith. Now, the words the faith with the article the in front of it is not a reference to personal faith. It seldom is.

I don't know if there's an exception or not. I can't think of one.

If there is but it doesn't refer to one's own personal faith or trust in someone or something, but rather it is a body of truth revealed by the Spirit, to which the body conforms and or obeys. To demonstrate this, consider the following passages. In Acts 6, 7.

The text reads, and the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem. And a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. Now people obeyed the faith, they became obedient to to the faith.

And so the number of disciples being multiplied is parallel or commensurate with the great many priests being included in that number. Yet both correspond to the word of God continuing to increase. So to obey the faith is to obey the word of God.

That's how the word of God is said to increase. Similarly, the increase of the word of God is the same as the faith continuing.

Paul would say in Galatians 1:23 that he preached the faith that he once tried to destroy. So some people might see it as a movement, or referred to by Luke as the way.

It is a But it's not just a movement, it's the faith in the sense that, as Romans one would say it, it's something revealed from faith unto faith, and that's the gospel, that's God's power to salvation. And so it reaches from a body of truth called the faith in order to produce faith.

When the faith is revealed in the good and honest heart, it is intended to produce personal faith. And so it starts from one source and moves to create another living creation.

And so Paul is talking about brethren having preached the faith, and that there were those who obeyed the faith.

Likewise, when Timothy received Paul's letter to him, Paul told him that he was trained, that Timothy was trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that he followed. So he he compares, or rather uses the expression good doctrine.

It's the good teaching, sound teaching, and it's referred to or equivalent to the faith that Timothy was trained in. Consider another passage in Acts 13:8 talks to us about Elymas, this magician in Crete.

He opposed Paul and Barnabas and and the Bible says that he sought to turn the proconsul away from the faith. So the same faith that one can obey can also be turned away from or rejected.

Now, Paul's teaching of the word here caused the proconsul to accept the faith. But when Elymas opposed him, seeking to undo his teaching, he was trying to persuade him to turn away from the faith or, if you please, the word.

We have the Same expressions or thought found in 1 Timothy 4:1, where the Bible talks about departing from the faith or chapter 6, verse 10, Paul writes about wandering from the faith. 6, 21. So certainly one can obey the faith and they can also reject it or destroy seeking to destroy it anyway.

Thirdly, one can be encouraged to continue in the faith despite the difficulties and tribulations that are faced. We see this from Acts chapter 14 in verse 22.

It tells us that Paul strengthened the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

In a similar way, Paul would write in Colossians 1:23, he says, if you continue in the faith stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you've heard, which was or has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I Paul and become a minister or servant. So the saints or the called out were to continue in the faith.

The saints or the called out were strengthened in the faith in chapter 16, verse 5, and consequently increased in numbers.

He describes the saints in Colossae as being moved, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught abounding in Thanksgiving, Colossians 2:2. So being established and strengthened in the faith can only be accomplished by being taught.

And as Paul says, you were rooted and built up in him and established in the faith just as you were taught. That's the source of the teaching is what Paul had revealed by the Spirit, this revelation from God.

And through their teaching they could be established in the faith. Simply the same thought. They're very equivalent terms and used interchangeably.

Paul would write to the Corinthians to stand firm in the faith and to be strong. Chapter 16, verse 13 of First Corinthians. He writes to the Philippians about the progress and joy in the faith in chapter 1 and verse 25.

Consider also another example or two. We can determine whether or not we are in the faith.

We can examine ourselves, as Paul would tell or write to the Corinthians to examine themselves, to see whether you're in the faith. In other words, and he says, test yourselves.

Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you fail to meet the test? He encourages saints to stand firm in one spirit, striving for the faith of the Gospel.

The same verse speaks of one's manner of life being worthy of the gospel of Christ. Paul refers to Timothy as his true child in the faith. 1 Timothy 1:2. Why well, Paul had taught him.

He had taught him sound doctrine, and Timothy was to preach that word, second Timothy four, two, and to hold fast to that which he had been taught. And then, of course, one of the most well used and at least recognized among brethren, with whom I have to do and have all my life.

We know well the passage in Jude 3 where Jude speaks of the faith once for all delivered to the saints, and he is to contend for that.

And Paul writes his last letter where he explains in 2nd Timothy 3, Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction, which is in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work. 2 Timothy 3, 16, 17.

Now the fact that the saints had Scriptures in the sense of having the Old Testament and the inspired New Testament authors, did not negate the work of Timothy and Titus or the work of shepherds. They were told to ordain them. And Titus was in every city where saints lived.

And for that reason, that which they all had in common, other than their teaching role, is the direct guidance of the Spirit in doing it and the spiritual gifts given to them. There were planters and there were waterers, and they coexisted.

Some stayed in one location for a lifetime, as in the case of Philip, while others moved from place to place. That doesn't mean that there was no overlapping of work or that pastors did not evangelize and that preachers never stayed longer than a few months.

I'm only suggesting that there's a pattern of planting wherein the truth has taken root in the early stages of its growth. And what was planted was not churches. It was the gospel, the truth, the message, the faith.

And there is a pattern, a pattern of daily care and maintenance that both the evangelists and the shepherds filled. They both met and filled that capacity.

Both had the same source of truth in the Scriptures and the Spirit, and both worked with saints to reach the unity of the faith. Now the unity of the faith produces unity. The reason it's associated with unity is the fact that it united two nations into one.

It tore down the hostilities and the law contained in ordinances. Paul would say in the same letter, and I might add, the temple. The new International version has it.

Until we all reach unity in the faith, it's practically the same as the unity of the Spirit in verse three. Because one emphasizes what is produced, while the other emphasizes the source of unity.

The body of Christ must come to accept the revelation of the mystery that was once hidden in ages past. But the mystery had to do regarding the Gentiles being now fellow heirs and fellow saints. Fellow heirs with the saints.

And so if one applies these four verses to the development of the body of Christ to include Jews and Gentiles as fellow heirs, then attaining to the unity of the faith was achieved in their lifetime, as was the fulfillment of the law. It didn't mean the law is to be torn out of our Bibles. That's a ridiculous conclusion. Only that there was a purpose. For why was it given?

Paul would write when he wrote the Galatians, the letter to the Galatians written or added because of transgressions till. Till what? Till the seed should come. So obviously there was a point even here.

When a purpose was accomplished and had been achieved, it no longer continued indefinitely. So as we find there, so we find here these expressions until we reach the unity of the faith.

That means that once we reach that, then these men that were gifted to God's people would cease, would end while it remained. The unity of the faith was not attained. They didn't all place their confidence and hope in Christ. Some of them abandoned the faith.

Men like Demas, who loved the present age, returned to his former tradition.

Once they attained the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God unto a full grown man, unto the measure of the stature of Christ, they would not be carried off by the deception of false teachers.

Instead, the truth spoken in love would cause growth in Christ, who is the head of that body, and the result of that one body composed now of Jews and Gentiles, which would be a fitly framed and knit together body through that which every joint supplied according to the working in due measure of each several part, and that caused the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love. Chapter 4, verse 16.

Now again, these words are not describing some flawless individual member from this body of Jews and Gentiles who have perfect knowledge of all things. Nor are we talking about the complete unity of all the religious denominations represented in Christianity today.

This is not the meaning of this translation.

The knowledge here is related to the revelation of the mystery of Christ that is the unity of the faith related to the called out people that opens the borders of the kingdom to all people who come to him by faith. That's in the context of the entire letter.

The description of the body of Christ in the Ephesian letter, especially chapter four is couched or surrounded by a context that describes the body that consists of individual units, and each unit contributes to the growth of the whole body in all aspects into Christ, and who himself is the fullness of the body. It is from Christ that the whole body is fitted and held together by the work of each individual. What's produced, though, is the growth of the body.

This is the same result from the work of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, mentioned back in verse 12. So the four conditions of verse 13, therefore, is applied to the body and the interdependency of each part on the other.

And so this unity in diversity and the acceptance and the application of the spoken word produces a beautiful harmony and consistency. This was made possible by the fulfillment and the end of the old law of Moses and the dependency on the works of that law.

So we conclude that the popular notion that these verses 13 and 14 of chapter 4 refers to some future time when Christ returns again at the end of time is an incorrect view. Why we need the provisions of each member of the body for its growth at the end of time is hard to imagine.

If we think of both passages having been accomplished, then God's revelation through the apostles and prophets is thoroughly adequate to furnish the man of God completely. And the unity of the faith that it produces has also been accomplished. Jude speaks of it as being once for all delivered to the saints.

So we have the product of that work in the New Testament letters and epistles.

These gifted men, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, was God's gift to his people in the fulfillment of the old system and in preparation for the new age of his reign, so that they no longer be children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine.

And so to maintain the ongoing work of these gifts is to suggest, my friend, that God has abandoned us to remain in that age under a law of sin and death, and that Christ is not reigning as King of kings and Lord of lords. Now we contend for the faith of the Gospel by passing on the same teaching to faithful men.

Now we will look next week, Lord willing, in taking the second thought or second phrase of the passage, and that is attaining to the knowledge of the Son of God. Thank you so much. Have a good day and a pleasant week.