Ephesians 4:13-14To: Ephesians Main MenuTo: Grace Notes Home Page Ephesians 4:13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; "Till we all come", the 1st person plural aorist subjunctive of KATANTAW, "to come; to attain to" This Greek word was used very similarly to the way that the English word "come" is used. That is, there are both literal and figurative uses for the word. Literally, KATANTAW means "to arrive somewhere". It is used this way in the Bible in several places. Acts 16:1, "Then came he [Paul] to Derbe and Lystra..." which speaks of Paul's arrival in a geographic location. Acts 20:15, "And we sailed from there, and came the next day over against Chios..." referring to the apostle's arrival at Chios. But the use of KATANTAW in Ephesians 4:13 is figurative, referring to someone's attaining to something. Acts 26:6,7, "And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto out fathers. Unto which promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God day and night, hope to come [KATANTAW]. For which hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews." In Acts 26 Paul is speaking of the confidence that the Jews have they they will reach, or attain to, the promises made by God to the Jewish people. Phil. 3:10,11, "That I man know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death, If by any means I might attain unto [KATANTAW] the resurrection of the dead." In Phil. 3 Paul shows his earnestness in desiring to "arrive at" or "attain to" a deeper knowledge and experience of his relationship with Christ by means of a greater understanding of Christ's sacrifice on the Cross. In our verse, Eph. 4:13, the idea is that there is the possibility that Christians can "attain to" a state of unity of the faith, by means of the Word of God which is taught by the communicators of doctrine. Note that unity and knowledge are tied up in the same package. It is oneness of thinking that is the basis for Christian unity. And it is the Word of God which can bring any believer to thinking according to divine viewpoint. Therefore, all people who think in Bible terms will be unified. Here is a place where the grammatical mood of a verb is important. The Greek verb KATANTAW is in the subjunctive mood. This is the mood of potential, not certainty. The subjunctive mood says "maybe we will come (to unity) and maybe we won't." The difference, of course, lies with a Christian's personal volition, the choices made when doctrine is presented. There will be no unity if the Word of God is not taught in a local church. If the Bible is taught carefully and well, there may still be no unity if believers in the church do not accept and apply the truth they receive. Believers who do not learn Bible truth, or who reject what they learn, will not be unified with other believers who accept truth by faith and who have application of the Word in their lives. "in the unity of the faith" "Unity" is the Greek noun HENOTEIS. The Greek and English words are cognates, which means that the English word "unity" comes directly from HENOTEIS. This chapter has the only two places in the New Testament where HENOTEIS appears. Indeed, in the King James Version, the word "unity" only appears in the New Testament in English in this chapter. In Eph. 4:3, one of the characteristics of "walking worthy of the vocation" to which we are called is that we "endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Yet a person may well wonder how Christians can be expected to maintain any sort of unity when there is so much diversity of culture, language, and opinion. The context of verse 13 has the answer! Unity CAN be attained to, and there is a straightforward process by which believers arrive at unity. Unity must be based on unity of thinking according to divine viewpoint. And unity of thinking leads to unity of purpose and service which results in the growth of the church outlined in verse 16. Topic: UNITY (DAVAQ) "and of the knowledge of the Son of God" "knowledge" is EPIGNOSIS, which may be defined as "full and applied knowledge", or knowledge which is characterized by both wisdom and prudence. In Ephesians 1:7-10, we see that in Christ we have redemption and that in Christ God makes available wisdom and prudence, "having made known unto us the mystery of His will..." A believer can have all of the riches of God's grace that he wants. Ignorance of God's Word and carnality prevent a Christian from having these riches. Compare Eph. 5:15, asophos (unwise) with 2 Cor. 11:1, 17, 21 (aphrosunei), "foolish" The wisdom of God is not merely intellectual or academic. It is not a higher philosophy which the Gnostics in the early church claimed to possess. It is the source of understanding of the details of daily living. Phil. 1:9-11, "And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That you may approve things that are excellent; that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." Note that "knowledge and judgment" are the foundations of the outworking of Christian love and fruitfulness. Jesus Christ give men the ability to see the great ultimate truths of eternity and to solve the problems of daily living. Col. 1:9, "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." "unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." There is a goal - spiritual maturity. There is a pattern - the stature of the fulness of Christ. The Bible is the only source of knowledge of how to know and love the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no such thing as "love at first sight" in spiritual things. The believer must get to know Christ very well, and this requires the daily intake of knowledge about Christ through the Word of God, which is "the mind of Christ." I Cor. 2:16 "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." Phil. 3:10 "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death." John 14:23 "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loves me not keeps not my sayings; and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me." To be like Christ, we must know Christ! Knowledge of the Bible leads to occupation with the Lord Jesus Christ, a daily walk with the Saviour. The "looking unto Jesus" requires being in the Word. Heb. 12:2,3 "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds." The Bible is the only source of God's viewpoint, the only basis for Christian unity. Isaiah 55:7-9 "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Bible truth is the basis for orientation to God's plan during the believer's lifetime. Isaiah 26:3,4 "The one who is steadfast of mind thou wilt keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in thee. Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord, we have an everlasting rock." Bible knowledge produces sanity and stability of mind. It is very important to get the Word of God into the mind before the times of pressure come. It is not too likely that an unstable person will respond to the Word of God. God's deals with the pressures of life using "preventive maintenance". James 1:8 "A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways." Bible truth is the basis for divine guidance. With all believers in a local church being guided by the same truth, there will be unity. Romans 12:1,2 "I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." But without the Word of God, the believer's mind will be corrupted by Satan and will become a repository of world-viewpoint and false teaching. 2 Cor. 11:3 "But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ." This is avoided by the process outlined in verse 14.
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