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Ephesians 4 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
Ephesians 4:11-12 NASB
The first thing I want to point out is that these terms, though consistent in their roles, look different than they did in the First Century just as many parts of Scripture do. We need to ask ourselves, what did it mean for them? Let me give you an example.
Apostles were charged with the duty of the Holy Spirit-inspired composition of Scripture. Obviously, apostles today would not have that duty. Prophets were the mouthpiece of God back then and would lay the foundation for future events to take place. Today, we have those words recorded in Scripture.
Why does it look so different? Ephesians 2:20 gives us a clue.
Paul is speaking here to people who have become believers through Jesus Christ back then, and I think this certainly could be applied to believers today.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,
Ephesians 2:19-20 NASB
So, as you can see, the early apostles and prophets were powerfully gifted to lay a foundation for future generations. What did the church need to get established?
Apostles were special ambassadors of God’s work. They possessed gifts as church planters, evangelists, pastors/teachers, and prophets. They were used in the early church to provide a foundation as we read in Eph 2:20.
Prophets were God’s mouthpiece who spoke in total consistency with the God’s Word in the Old and New Testament. A lot of people think prophets are all about future events. Sometimes they do speak in a predictive sense, but not always. A prophet has a strong desire to remind the people of God’s Word, which is why they are subject to the discernment and judgment of church leadership (1 Corinthians 14:29).
Evangelists were specifically gifted to preach the good news of Salvation in Jesus Christ. They are outward focused in their search to convert new believers.
Pastors and teachers (or, pastor-teachers; the ancient Greek clearly describes this as two sides of the same coin) They shepherd the flock of God primarily through teaching the Word of God and caring for His people.
The most important part of these gifts is not for the individual, as we read in the next verse. So many today parade around their gifts like a badge of honor. These various forms of ministry were given to the people of God to equip others! The goal is so that our church family (the body of Christ) would be built up.
There is work to be done that cannot be done by just one or two “gifted” people. Christ’s establishment of the church was so that all members would function together as one body. If you are a Christian, you are a participant in His Body!