Ephesians 4:13 – a mature man

…unto the end that we should all attain to the unity of the faith and of the realization of the son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature of the complement of the Christ.

The gifts Paul mentioned in verse 11 were given with an “until”. Once the state is reached that is described in verse 13, then these gifts have had  their function and will therefore also cease. As we also read in 1 Corinthians 13 about the gifts of knowledge, prophecy and ‘speaking in languages’ that would cease as soon as “maturity” would dawn (13:10). Paul uses the same word for “maturity” here as well.

The ecclesia began as our life as a human being once started: in a state of immaturity. A stage in which we still needed guidance and in which we developed. We thought, felt and spoke like a child. But once grown up, we put that childishness aside. That is how the ecclesia started. In the beginning there were the gifts, such as apostles and prophets who made the gospel known with divine authority, taught and thus fed the flock. But when the word of God was complete, those gifts were no longer needed. Since then, the ecclesia is an “mature man”!

Delen: