And He gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; Eph. 4:11-12
The purpose of this series is to impart a shift in thinking from the current “five-fold ministry” paradigm to a more accurate expression of these gifts of the grace of Christ. In Part 1 we looked at the emergence of this idealism and in Part 2 considered the validity of what is commonly called “the ministry.” Before moving forward with a deeper look into the actual gifts let’s finish some foundational thoughts beginning with a refutation of the cessationist position.
Although there are several strains of cessationism, the classic cessationist teaches (among other things) that the Eph 4 grace gifts are no longer valid. Some groups deny all the functions (apostles through teachers) but most focus on apostles and prophets. The standard arguments generally they go something like this. Apostles and prophets held a specific place in the foundation of the church being primarily used to bring forth the completed Word of God. Since the canon of Scripture has been closed (meaning the books of the Bible have been written and set) there is no longer a need for these grace gifts to function. They believe that no one can add to the Word of God, and no one can speak on the same level of authority as the scripture. To the latter points, I agree.
However, the inherent flaw in the cessationist position lies in the failure to simply follow through the thought line of Eph 4:11 which clearly states all these functions will exist until we all attain to the unity of the faith, mature manhood, the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ – not until the canon of scripture is closed. Quite honestly brethren, we are far from this beautiful corporate position. Indeed, Paul’s admonition in 1 Cor. 3:4 that when we identify ourselves according to our respective streams we are mere men – infants in Christ. I say this in humility, yet with great conviction brethren. Nothing reveals corporate maturity more than our love for one another, commitment to unity, and jealousy for the revelation of Jesus Christ. Not manifestations, powerful preaching, missional projects or deeply moving worship experiences. So much for my digression.
What I really want to focus on is the need to recognize proper Kingdom order in the functions of grace. Let me clarify what I am not saying. I am not establishing a positional hierarchy amongst the ascension gifts. Nor am I implying that any one function is more important than the other. What I am saying is that there is a clear biblical order, according to the distribution of the grace of Christ, that must be accepted and allowed to function if we are to achieve the maturity we long for as a corporate man. To illuminate my point I offer the following two passages of scripture.
Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. 1 Cor. 12:27-28
We see clearly here the Holy Spirit has provided an ordinal list: first, second, third. This is not by accident and it cannot simply be cast aside. He is revealing a divine order that must be acknowledged. Now admittedly, many use this verse to establish positional primacy, having fallen into the error of Diotrephes who “desired to be the first” among the brethren (3 Jn. 1:9). However, we must not reject that for which we have clear biblical validity, rather we must seek the Lord for greater clarity and integrity in expression.
Consider this second passage.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone. Eph. 2:19-20
Here we have another clear statement regarding the foundation of God’s household being apostles and prophets. As one dear brother has said, the current church system is built on pastoral and teaching foundations rather than apostolic and prophetic foundations. Could this possibly explain why many believers have a lot of head knowledge but little spiritual power? Could this explain why many leaders are more concerned with growing their church instead of advancing the Kingdom of God? Could this explain why many sincere individuals spend hours wrangling with words uttered by dear saints long gone but have no present word from heaven?
Brethren, God has set these particular grace gifts as foundational and primal but they are conveniently cast aside because of inaccurate doctrine, and understandably avoided because too often they are expressed with gross irresponsibility and distortion. This must be corrected. As I said in part one of this series, the focus of Eph. 4 is not the APEST gifts, but the mature man that emerges as these gifts of grace equip the saints to function properly. My point here is that the foundational grace of the mature man is apostolic and prophetic, therefore it is necessary that the proper function of these grace gifts be recovered and acknowledged.
In my next four posts I will be dissecting these grace gifts and providing a proper biblical view of their function.
