Ephesians 4:11-16
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ —
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
The purpose of all this is growth!
1. Numerically, as lost people are led to Jesus.
2. Spiritually, so that each member will no longer be an “infant” who is “tossed back and forth by the waves,” but that each will attain “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
3. Organically, as relationships become stronger and more mutually supportive and the whole body is “joined and held together by every supporting ligament.”
