until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, at [the] full-grown man, at [the] measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ;
Paul has just listed the gifts the ascended Christ gave to His people, and here he names the goal of all that ministry. Three questions follow: which unity does he mean, what is "mature manhood," and when do we reach it?
The word "until" fixes how long Christ's gifts to His people last. One writer argues that no one can claim we have reached the goal, so the supply has not stopped:
His ascension to heaven did not interrupt these gifts. Ephesians 4:8-10 shows the opposite: only from Him on high were they given, and given until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God… to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. No right-minded Christian will claim we have reached this yet, so neither should he doubt the unfailing grace of Christ… the love of Christ cannot refuse all that is needed for the perfecting of the saints, for ministerial work, for building up His body.
"The faith" here means a body of truth, and the unity it produces is not one that people arrange:
The faith the apostle speaks of is the whole system of Christian truth. The unity is not agreement on a creed, and not an alliance that people arrange. It is a unity of mind and heart, produced by grasping the truth as God teaches it in His word.
Another writer marks off this unity from the unity of the Spirit:
The unity of the faith, in verse 13, is another matter. The activity of the gifts has the building up of the body of Christ in view, to this end: "Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God." We must not confuse the two. The unity of the faith is objective — something the saints are to arrive at. The unity of the Spirit is more subjective, and involves the living oneness of the members of the body of Christ.
The verse joins the faith to a Person, and the knowing it asks for is acquaintance, not information:
This knowledge is not a mere taking in of truth. It is a personal acquaintance with the Person of the Son of God. And it is knowing Him not only as Saviour, but as Son of God. The world will know Him as Judge and King, the Jew as Messiah; our special privilege is far above their knowledge. Take any gathering of believers: where you find some measure of this knowledge of the Son of God, you may be sure there is a matching measure of the unity of the faith.
Does this mean every believer must first become perfect? One writer answers no:
I do not think that means until every person is perfect. The point is not that I become a perfect man on my own. It is the full-grown man: the one body, made up of all its living members, grown to its fullest extent, so that it gives a full and well-proportioned picture of the life of Christ.
Why does Paul add the knowledge of the Son of God? Kelly answers that, and names the standard our growth aims at:
Adding the knowledge of the Son of God was necessary, because it is up to His stature, known in this way, that we are to grow… The perfect man simply means the state: a full-grown man. But the measure of the stature of a full-grown man in Christ is Christ Himself. All the fulness that is in Him is worked into the soul, and the soul takes its shape from it. The soul becomes like Him and is filled with Him in all its thoughts. Christ's outward fulness measures and forms the soul's inward state, so that there is no mismatch and no separation from Him — the believer grown up to Him in everything.
Commentators differ here. Some read the goal as a maturity possible now, in contrast with the childishness of verse 14:
The perfection spoken of here seems not to be perfection in glory, where all will no doubt be according to Christ. It seems to be a state of full growth on earth, in contrast with the infancy and weakness of verse 14.
Others hold that only heaven can answer to the words:
The gifts will continue until the Church is complete in heaven, and until the building up of the body reaches its finished state: the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. No partial perfection reached before then can fill out the meaning of this verse.
- Gift — Christ gave ministry from heaven, and "until" keeps the supply coming while the goal is still ahead.
- Faith — the first target is one mind in the whole body of truth, formed by God's word, not by human arrangement.
- Knowledge — that truth is not a subject but a Person; the aim is personal acquaintance with the Son of God.
- Man — the outcome is one full-grown man: the whole body showing Christ, not a crowd of people each finished on their own.
- Measure — the standard is Christ's own fulness worked into the soul; writers differ on whether we reach it on earth or only in glory, but nothing less than Christ is the aim.
in order that we may be no longer babes, tossed and carried about by every wind of *that* teaching [which is] in the sleight of men, in unprincipled cunning with a view to systematized error;
Paul has just described the goal of every gift Christ gave His church: full growth measured by Christ Himself. This verse states the other side of that goal — what we are meant to leave behind.
The word rendered "children" describes infancy, and the exhortation assumes movement out of it.
"That from now on we may no longer be children (infants), tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive." (Eph. 4:14.) This exhortation involves the fact of growth. The immature, easily-imposed-upon state is looked at as the one out of which believers should emerge.
The verse does not tell us to become clever. It ties our steadiness to the maturity described in the verse before it.
The first result of this maturity in Christ is a soundness of judgment in spiritual things. It makes even the least educated believer proof against the clever arguments of the human mind. It is important to notice how we gain this ground. It is not by human learning, or by skill in argument. This verse connects with the one just before it. Our stability among the shifting currents of human opinion and speculation is the result of being full-grown in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God. That means an intelligent acquaintance with the word of God, and a heart acquaintance with the blessed Lord Himself. Scripture proposes no other safeguards against error and false doctrine, and none that man sets up is of the smallest use.
One commentator, quoting an older translation, shows why ignorance leaves a believer open to deceit.
The effect of this full growth would be that we should no longer be babes in Christian knowledge. While we are ignorant, we are liable to be "tossed and carried about by every wind of that teaching which is in the sleight of men, in unprincipled cunning with a view to systematized error." Sadly, there are those in the Christian profession who, with sleight and cunning craftiness, are ready to deceive those not established in the truth. Whenever someone in the history of God's people plainly denies a great truth, or puts forward some special error about the Person of Christ, you will usually find a whole system of error behind that one wrong doctrine.
One writer traces this plot back past the men who carry it out.
"The sleight of men" is set in this passage against the wisdom of God, and the method of deceit against the counsel of saving truth in Christ. Men are indeed the actors in this intricate plot of craft and falsehood; but Satan is its first inventor, and the ruling mover of its action.
Christ keeps giving gifts to His church. One writer explains what they are meant to produce.
God wants His saints firmly established in His grace and truth, and in the knowledge of His Son. Then they will be proof against the ever-changing tricks of the enemy. The church of God will never be without souls needing help on to full growth. So the ever faithful Head will continue the gifts of His grace until the end: "till we all come." Christ does not give gifts to make the saints helplessly dependent on them. It is the opposite: by means of the gifts the saints become firmly rooted and grow up into Him who is the Head — Christ.
One writer looks at what good men reached for when false teaching came in.
You are aware that at an early date false doctrines and heresies of all kinds came in. What was the resource of good men in those days? They invented creeds and confessions by which they tried to test suspected persons. But where was the authority for this course? Or was it found that these defences kept the evil out? Never, at any time or place. There is only one power for maintaining truth and love — Christ Himself.
Many people try to master every false system so they can answer it. One writer points the other way.
We do not escape error by enquiring into all the details of the error, but by the knowledge of the truth. The Lord can say of His sheep, "A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers" (John 10:5). Our safety, then, is found not in investigating evil, but in holding the truth in love.
- Childhood — Infancy in the faith is real, but it is a stage to grow out of, not a settled Christian condition.
- Danger — An unsettled believer is easy prey for cunning men. Behind one wrong doctrine there is usually a whole system of error.
- Provision — Christ gives gifts so that saints take root and grow, not so that they lean on the gifted.
- Safeguard — Not learning, debating skill, creeds, or the study of error. Safety is knowing the word of God and knowing the Lord Himself.
- Outcome — The grown believer holds a steady course while opinion shifts. He grows up into Christ the Head.
but, holding the truth in love, we may grow up to him in all things, who is the head, the Christ
Ephesians 4 has just described believers in danger of being blown about by every new teaching. Against that danger stands one short answer: hold the truth in love, and grow up into Christ.
The phrase covers more than accurate words. One commentator says it goes deeper than speech:
It is "being truthful in love," not just "speaking the truth in love." Speaking the truth is a very important part of being truthful, but it is not everything. We all know it is quite possible to be untruthful in thought and feeling while the words are perfectly correct. "Being truthful in love" implies truth in the inward parts.
That inward reality is why holding the truth cannot stop at the mind:
Knowing the truth in your head is not enough. You must hold it in your affections and show it in your life. Only then can we grow up to Christ, the Head, in whom every feature of the truth exists.
Truth and love are not a balance we invent. We take both from the One we grow toward.
The Christian is to grow up in line with all that Christ reveals, and to keep growing more like his Head. He uses love and truth for his own soul — the two things Christ expresses perfectly. Christ is our pattern, and our pattern as One who has overcome and gone up to heaven. He is our Head, and we are members of His body, joined to Him. From this Head, through its members, flows the grace we need to do the work of becoming like Him.
This verse answers the drifting described just before it. How we hold the truth matters as much as how firmly we hold it.
There are plenty of people ready to do Satan's deceptive work. They scheme, manipulate and make excuses, always on the watch to trap others and undermine any honest faith in the living God. But God has made provision to keep us safe from this, in the positive instructions of verse 15... Such growth needs a settled decision to hold the truth God has given us securely, in mind and in practice — not in a harsh, legal way, but in genuine love.
Growing up "in every way into him" sets no ceiling short of Christ Himself. So what is the measure of a mature believer?
The measure of the stature of a full-grown man in Christ is Christ Himself. It is all the fullness that is in Him worked into the soul. The soul is then shaped by that fullness, made like Him, and filled with Christ in all its thoughts. Its inner state is measured and formed by the fullness that really is in Christ, so that there is no gap and no separation from Him. The saint has grown up to Him in everything.
Two limits are removed by the wording. The growth covers every part of life, and it is not measured one believer at a time.
As I understand it, this is a growing together; the "all" of verse 13 growing up to Christ as one. How harmonious! If a man grows on one side only, we call him a hideous sight, a monstrosity... But holding the truth in love we are to grow up to Him in all things, until we come under the influence of the Head in every direction. Private life with God, service in the church, family life, business life — in every circle we learn to own the Lord Jesus Christ as the mind that directs us.
The work is shared out, and no part is too small.
Everybody has his or her part in God's Assembly, the ministry of each member in its place tending to the building up of the body in love... Perhaps you will say, My part is a very small one. Never mind. Do the thing the Lord gives you; it might be only to give a cup of cold water — that would be a very useful thing to a thirsty soul.
- Held — we do not just speak the truth; we hold it inside. Correct words can still hide untruthful thought and feeling.
- In love — truth and love belong together, because Christ expresses both perfectly, and He is our pattern.
- Against drift — God gave this to guard believers from schemers who trap and unsettle them.
- Toward Him — the goal is Christ Himself, not a level of knowledge. He works His fullness into the soul until nothing in us is out of step with Him.
- In every way — the growth is even and shared: every area of life, every member with a part, or the body grows lopsided.
from whom the whole body, fitted together, and connected by every joint of supply, according to [the] working in [its] measure of each one part, works for itself the increase of the body to its self-building up in love.
Paul has just described the gifts the risen Christ gave. Now he shows where the growth itself comes from: everything flows down from Christ the Head, yet nothing moves unless each part works.
The verse opens with "from whom." One writer marks the difference between what comes from the Head and what comes through the members:
All the power for growth, all the supplies, come from the Head. So the whole is said to be "from," or "out of" Him. But the "compacting" of the whole is through — not from — what every joint supplies. This happens according to the working in its measure of each part. Though everything comes from Christ, each believer still takes his proper place. So through him, in his measure, the cementing and filling up of the body goes on.
The body is joined together first; the growth comes after. We did not arrange it, and we cannot rearrange it:
The body is not only united to Christ the Head. It is also fitted together by divine workmanship. All the members depend on one another, and the living Head controls and supplies them. So that the supply from the Head might reach every member of the body, He has provided the body with the joints of supply. … How different this divine idea and formation is from man's thoughts about the church. We are not held together by a loose human bond that people can alter. We are not in the church by our own choice, or with companions we picked for ourselves. The body of Christ is not a mixture of believers and unbelievers. Only those who share the life of their living, heavenly Head belong to it, because they are joined to Him in a living way.
The gifts are not the whole story, and they are not given to everyone:
In verse 16 we move on from what the Lord is graciously doing through the gifts. Now we learn what He Himself is doing as the Head of the body. What every joint supplies is not the exercise of gift, because the gifts are not given to everyone. But every true Christian has something given from the Head to pass on to fellow members of the body. In the human body, if every member is under the direct control of the head, all the members work together for the good of the whole. In the same way, if every member of the body of Christ were under the direct control of Christ, the body would increase and build itself up in love.
The ESV says "when each part is working properly." Older translations read "the effective working in its measure of every part." One writer presses that phrase home:
Of course, we are meant to grow together. But it happens according to the effective working in its measure of every part. I wish I knew how to convey to you the comfort of that phrase. There are some who seem to be dormant Christians, some who seem to be silent Christians. You wonder whether it could be said of them that each one is working according to the measure of his part. So much depends on your filling the role assigned to you by the Head in glory.
One writer looks at the Greek behind "makes the body grow":
I have said "makes for itself," because the form of the Greek expression implies it. However that may be, the teaching is clear. The whole body, acting through its members, gains and produces its own increase. The body is there. It grows, but it is a body all along, and it grows here on earth, not in heaven.
The verse does not stop at growth. Growth happens in love, or it does not happen:
Notice too the place love has in the self-edification of the body. Without love nothing can be achieved among the saints of God. This is not only implied here, it is taught forcefully in 1 Corinthians 13. Love is the great builder! Knowledge may puff up, but love will build up.
So what happens when a few teachers carry the whole load?
People have too often put all the responsibility of the church on those who labour in the Word. They have been content just to receive whatever such men have to give. If that changed, would there not be more real fellowship and a more general care for the increase of the body? … Are we longing for the increase of the body of Christ, and helping it forward as far as we can?
- Source. All supply comes from the Head; the compacting happens through what each joint gives.
- Structure. The body is joined and held together by God, not by a human bond people can rearrange.
- Share. Gifts are not given to everyone, but every Christian receives something from the Head to pass on.
- Scale. Each part works "in its measure" — your assigned function, no more and no less.
- Self. The body builds itself up, and it does so in love: knowledge puffs up, love builds up.