2. Gifts for the new community (4:7-12)

Within the community of believers joined by common grace is diversity of function. Individuals have been gifted for certain offices. This, too, is the result of grace, as Christ apportioned it, to serve the community. If one is saved by grace, then it must be true also that one is prepared to serve by grace. Paul cites Ps 68:18 as proof that the conqueror distributed gifts. It is worthy of note that Paul does not use either the MT or the LXX, both of which indicate that the Messiah received gifts from persons who had been delivered. Reaching back into Jewish antiquity, Paul gives an alternate reading that replaces the idea of tribute received with that of favor bestowed. The alternate reading, found in both the Peshitta (the Syriac version of the OT) and the Aramaic paraphrase of the Psalms, is more in keeping with Paul’s point that gifts of function are gifts of grace given to liberated persons rather than by them.

Vv.9-10 are parenthetical. As an aside, Paul gives a Gospel interpretation of the rest of the verse just cited. If Christ ascended, leading the freed captives in his train, then, by implication, he previously had descended. Paul is stretching a bit to make his point, but he wants to say more about Jesus' victory. While more than one interpretation is possible, the most likely is that Paul saw death and the grave (the lower, earthly regions) as the ultimate phase of the descent from heaven (cf. Php 2:6-8). The one who descended beneath the earth (to hades or sheol, the region of the dead) is the same one who ascended higher than all the heavens, the realms above the earth, thus having filled “the whole universe with His presence, from the lowest depths to the highest heights” (Bruce, Ephesians, 84). Because Christ fills the entire universe, his ascension has not made him inaccessible (cf. Mt 18:20; 28:20).

V.11 returns to the theme of v.7. It was Jesus who gave the church its leaders (apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor/teachers). This is confirmed in other passages, notably 1Co 12:4-11; 12:28. Here, however, the emphasis is altered slightly to suggest that Spirit-endowed persons are God’s gift to the church. Apostles are those commissioned to preach the Gospel. Accordingly, in 1Th 2:6 Timothy and Silas are counted among the “apostles of Christ,” as is Barnabas in Ac 14:4. Prophets speak in the churches under the direct prompting of the Spirit; evangelists lead people to knowledge of the Gospel; pastor/teachers (“shepherds”) help converts to understand and apply the Gospel.

Why are they given to the church? Their purpose is to prepare God’s people for works of service. To what end? These offices are of first importance because those who have these gifts/offices direct others to perform their respective ministries for the common good. As persons perform better their particular ministries, the entire body is strengthened. The body builder knows that each muscle must be strengthened if the whole body is to be developed properly. Some persons in the community fill the vital role of assisting others to exercise their gifts that the whole body of Christ might be built up.