Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians

Part 14

I need to credit Warren Wiersbe for all this clever alliteration…I don’t always agree with his theology or emphasis, but his organization is the best I’ve seen…it’s his gift!

In chapter 4, verses 1-3, we discovered the Grace of Unity, in verses 4-6, we discovered the Ground of Unity and now in verses 7-11 we will explore the Gifts for Unity:

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
Therefore it says, "When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, And He gave gifts to men." (Now this expression, "He ascended," what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers…

The essence of this passage is the distribution of gifts to the church and Paul wants to be sure the Ephesians understand that it is Jesus who gives the gifts and that He has the authority to do so.

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift…

What does this mean?

Christ is the One who dispenses the gifts…it is His measure.

Once again in verse 8, Paul references the Old Testament and exercises his Apostolic authority to exalt Christ…most commentators believe he is quoting Psalm 68:18, but notice the differences:

You have ascended on high, You have led captive Your captives; You have received gifts among men, Even among the rebellious also, that the Lord God may dwell there.

When David wrote Psalm 68, was he referring to Jesus as the victor who ascended?

David didn’t even know who Jesus would be! Notice two major differences between the text in Psalm 68 and Paul’s statement: First, he changes from second person to third person…from You to He and secondly, he reverses the direction of the gifts from receiving to giving. I believe that Paul thought that the entire Old Testament pointed to Jesus. As we have seen before, he is not hesitant to adapt the Old Covenant scripture to support his belief that Jesus is the focal point…the fulfillment of everything…the reality of the shadow. I am reminded of the words of Jesus to the religious leaders of His day: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me… (John 5:39 NASB95)

What is the purpose of the parentheses of verses 9 & 10?

Paul has just quoted the Old Testament to support his belief that Christ has the position and authority to distribute gifts to the church and seems to feel he needs to justify having done so by explaining how Jesus is the One being referred to in that text. He points out that if Christ ascended, He must have first descended.

What does the phrase He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth, mean?

There are at least three possible explanations:

Christ’s incarnation

Christ’s visit to Hades between His death and resurrection

Christ’s death and burial in the grave

The third explanation seems to fit best since it was by His death and burial that He conquered death and redeemed those He would give as "gifts" to the church.

What does the phrase He who ascended far above all the heavens mean? I thought Jesus would be in heaven with us, not above it.

In preparing for this lesson, I consulted K.S. Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament and learned something I never understood before…it’s so good, I just copied it:

From the subject of the general enabling grace of God given to all saints for service, Paul turns to gifts, which He gives to men. The word here is not charisma (χαρισμα), referring to special gifts such as the gifts noted in I Cor. 12:4–11, but doma (δομα), a general term for that which is given. These gifts are the gifted men mentioned in 4:11. Christ gave these gifts to the Church when He ascended to Heaven. But in order to ascend to Heaven and give these gifts to the Church, He had to lead captivity captive. Who are these captives?

He led these individuals captive in His ascension. But what ascension? Was it His ascension from Olivet after His forty-day post-resurrection ministry? Or, was it His ascension on the first day of the week, straight from the resurrection tomb (John 20:17)? In the former instance, the Shekinah Glory Cloud was God’s official chariot of protection through the principalities and powers in the lower atmosphere, the demons. In His ascension from the Easter morning tomb, there is no record of such a cloud. Fulfilling the type of the priest on the Day of Atonement in which the latter after sacrificing the animal at the Brazen Altar, and passing through the Court and the Holy Place into the Holy of Holies, sprinkled the blood on the Mercy Seat, thus, completing the typical atonement, our Lord was on His way from the Cross through the heaven of the clouds and of the stars, into Heaven itself, to present Himself in the Holy of Holies as High Priest, having shed His blood on the Cross, completing the atonement by His presence in the heavenly Holy of Holies in a bloodless human body, proof of the fact that He had paid for sin with His own blood (Heb. 9:11–15, 24–28).

But to go from earth to Heaven, He had to pass through the territory of Satan and his demons in the air (Heb. 4:14, passed through (dia (δια)) the heavens). Satan tried to keep our Lord from going to the Cross. He tried to keep Him in the tomb. Unsuccessful in these attempts, he tried to keep Him from completing the atonement by barring His progress through the air. Concerning this battle our Lord had with the demons, Paul speaks in Col. 2:15 (When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.) The principalities and powers are the demons of Ephesians 6:12. (For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.) The word "spoiled" is apekduomai (απεκδυομαι), "wholly to strip off from one’s self for one’s own advantage." Enduno (Ενδυνω) means "to put on," as a garment. Thus, apekduomai (απεκδυομαι) means "to strip off from one’s self" that with which one is clothed. Our Lord, in going through the kingdom of Satan in the air, was opposed by the demons who attempted to keep Him from completing the atonement by presenting Himself as High Priest in Heaven. He stripped off and away from Himself, the demons who in attempting to impede His progress, would cling to His Person.

The words "made a show of," are the translation of deigmatizo (δειγματιζω), "to make a display of, exhibit." "Openly" is parresia (παρρησια), "boldly." "Triumphing" is thriambeuo (θριαμβευω), "to celebrate a triumph." It was used among the Romans of a triumphal procession, such as that of a victorious general home from the wars, leading his captives and booty in a procession through the streets of Rome. Here our Lord leads the demons whom He has stripped off and away from Himself, in a triumphal procession through the air. The literal translation of Colossians 2:15 reads, "Having stripped off and away from Himself the principalities and authorities, He made a display of them in boldness, leading them in a triumphal procession in it."

There are three lists of spiritual gifts given in the New Testament: 1 Corinthians 12:4–11, 27–31; Romans 12:3–8; and Ephesians 4:11. Since these lists are not identical, it may be that Paul has not named all the gifts that are available. Paul wrote that some gifts are more important than others, but that all believers are needed if the body is to function normally. Here in verse 11, he lists not so much gifts as gifted men: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists and Pastor/Teachers.

What were the qualifications for Apostles?

The word means "one who is sent with a commission" and was used to describe an ambassador of the king. In the Christian community, an apostle was one of the original twelve who were witnesses of the Resurrection and had been with Jesus personally. I believe they were chosen by Christ Himself, and that Paul, rather than Mathias, was the replacement for Judas.

What were the qualifications for Prophets?

We commonly associate a prophet with predictions of future events, but this is not his primary function. A New Testament prophet was one who proclaimed the Word of God (Acts 11:28; Eph. 3:5). Believers in the New Testament churches did not possess Bibles, nor was the New Testament written and completed. How, then, would these local assemblies discover God’s will? His Spirit would share God’s truth with those possessing the gift of prophecy. Paul suggests that the gift of prophecy had to do with understanding "all mysteries and all knowledge" (1 Cor. 13:2), meaning, of course, spiritual truths. The purpose of prophecy is "edification, encouragement, and consolation" (1 Cor. 14:3, literal translation). With the Apostles, the prophets had a foundational ministry in the early church and they are not needed today (Eph. 2:20).

How do you feel about this statement?

Christians today do not get their spiritual knowledge immediately from the Holy Spirit, but mediately through the Spirit teaching the Word.

What are the qualifications for an Evangelist?

They need to have the gift of evangelism…a witness and an evangelist are not the same. A pastor and an evangelist are not the same.

Describe your understanding of a Christian witness…

Traditionally, we have understood it to be one who has first-hand information about Jesus. Perhaps it would be well to re-define a witness as someone who allows Jesus to express His life in and through their body.

What are the qualifications for a Pastor/Teacher? Are Pastors and Teachers the same office or different?

The fact that the word "some" is not repeated indicates that we have here one office with two ministries. Pastor means "shepherd," indicating that the local church is a flock of sheep (Acts 20:28), and it is his responsibility to feed and lead the flock (1 Peter 5:1–4, where "elder" is another name for "pastor"). He does this by means of the Word of God, the food that nourishes the sheep. The Word is the staff that guides and disciplines the sheep. The Word of God is the local church’s protection and provision, and no amount of entertainment, good fellowship, or other religious substitutes can take its place.

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