And he himself constituted some apostles, other prophets, other evangelists, and other pastors and teachers,
4:11 — “And he himself appointed some apostles…” “And he appointed some as apostles…” (BAS); “And he himself gave some, as apostles..” (HA). There are two groups of offices in v 11: A. Apostles and prophets, inspired men charged with revealing the will of Christ, and with preaching and building up the church; they continue in their craft to this day through their inspired writings (the New Testament). B. The other group, evangelists and pastors who are also teachers, men who also received spiritual gifts in the first century, but whose office continues to this day in living men on earth, but not inspired. Christ gave gifts, and one of the first and main ones is that he constituted some apostles to be his witnesses (Acts 1:8), ambassadors (2Co 5:20), and messengers (Matt 28:19). Acts of the Apostles and 1 John must be studied carefully to appreciate this important office. Since Pentecost they occupy twelve thrones to judge the universal church through their inspired word (Matt 19:28). Christ gave them authority to bind (forbid) and bind (permit) (Matt 16:19; Matt 18:18), and to forgive sins (Joh 20:22-23), in the sense of revealing the law of Christ. Guided by the Holy Spirit they preached the plan of salvation, and were guided into all truth (Joh 14:26; Joh 16:13). — “prophets.” see Acts 2:17-18; Ac 11:27; Acts 13:1; Ac 15:32; Acts 21:9. 1Co 14:1-40 explains the great importance of the gift of prophecy in building up the church (v. 4). The prophet (and prophetesses) spoke under inspiration to reveal the will of God, and to teach, exhort, and admonish for the edification of the members of the body. They could predict the futureActs 11:27-28; Acts 21:10-11), but his work was not limited to this function. The Old Testament prophets were preachers, and their main message was repentance. There are no living prophets on earth now, because these gifts ceased when the New Testament revelation was completed. See v. 13 (notes) and 1Co 13:8-10. However, these same first century prophets are alive today, and continue to reveal God’s will through his writings (the New Testament). — “evangelists”, those who evangelize (preach the gospel), like Philip (Acts 21:8) whose activity is described in Acts 8:1-40. Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus are extensive instructions for the evangelists. Every evangelist should read these letters frequently to engrave them on his heart. At every moment and on every occasion the evangelist must be ready to preach, teach, exhort, rebuke, and reprove (2Ti 4:1-5). The work of the evangelist is a gift of God, just like the work of the apostle and the prophet, but the evangelists of the present time are not inspired. The Bible makes no distinction between evangelists and ministers of the gospel. The concept that the evangelist travels and the minister works with a local church is an idea that was born in sectarianism. The minister or preacher who does not evangelize as much as he can and as far as he can is not faithful. The evangelist teaches and exhorts as many congregations as he can. There is no biblical difference between the work of the evangelist and the work of the minister of the gospel; they are the same thing. And there should be no distinction between the two in practice now. — “shepherds and teachers”. Paul does not say, “to other pastors; and others, teachers”. He refers to the office of the shepherds who shepherd the flock (instruct the members of the church). These are the elders or bishops who, according to Paul, should be appointed in each congregation (Ac 14:23). In Ac 20:17 Paul “summoned the elders of the church” from Ephesus. Speaking with them, he calls them “bishops”, and adds the concept of pastors by saying, “shepherd the church”. The word “shepherd” appears in Peter’s exhortation to the elders (1Pe 5:1-2). According to Ac 14:23, “appointed elders in every church.” In Hebrews 13:17 we see that the shepherds watch over the souls of the brothers. It is important to note that they constituted a plurality of elders in each congregation. see Ac 11:30; Ac 14:23; Acts 15:2; Phil 1:1. You never read in the New Testament of a single elder or a single pastor or bishop in any congregation. It is also important to remember that the jurisdiction of bishops is limited to a single congregation. They constituted elders in each church. There were no “district elders”, no “diocesan elders”, no “sponsor elders”. Each congregation is independent and must have its own elders.
Source: Commentary on the New Testament by Partain
he himself gave, or constituted. Eph 4:8; Eph 2:20; Eph 3:5; Romans 10:14, Romans 10:15; 1Co 12:28; Jude 1:17; Rev 18:20; Rev 21:14.
evangelists. Acts 21:8; 2Ti 4:5.
pastors and teachers. 2Ch 15:3; Jer 3:15; Matt 28:20; Acts 13:1; Romans 12:7; 1Co 12:29; Hebrews 5:12; 1Pe 5:1-3.
Source: The Treasury of Biblical Knowledge
apostles means “envoys” or “ambassadors”, in its most restricted sense it refers to those who saw Christ in his resurrected form, performed miracles and were specially selected by Christ himself to narrate about him from their position as eyewitnesses. In such a concept, there are currently no apostles. The prophets They delivered revelations from God before the NT was written. (1Co 14:1-40). They predicted God’s actions in the future and proclaimed what God had already said in the Scriptures. The evangelists they are the preachers of the gospel, who facilitate the incorporation of people into the Body of Christ. They do this through the presentation of Christ’s offer of salvation by grace through faith (Eph 2:8, Eph 2:9). Since each of these categories is responsible for equipping believers, evangelists can also train others to effectively share their faith. The shepherds they do for the church all that literal shepherds do for the sheep: they feed, rear, care for, and protect them from enemies. The task of the shepherd is not to get sheep. However, if a shepherd does what is expected of him, he will have healthy sheep and the flock will grow.
Teachers: Although in this case the Greek closely links the titles teacher and shepherd, everywhere they are listed separately (Romans 12:7; 1Pe 5:2).
Source: New Illustrated Caribbean Bible Commentary
HE HIMSELF CONSTITUTED. See ARTICLE THE MINISTRY GIFTS OF THE CHURCH, P. 1690. .
Source: Full Life Study Bible
ARTICLE
The ministry gifts of the church.
Eph 4:11
And he himself constituted some, apostles; to others, prophets; to others, evangelists; to others, pastors and teachers.
THE DONOR Eph 4:11 lists the ministry gifts (ie, talented spiritual leaders) that Christ gave to the church. Paul says that Christ gave those ministry gifts
(1) to perfect the saints for the work of the ministry” (Eph 4:12) Y
(2) for the spiritual growth and development of the body of Christ according to God’s plan (Eph 4:13-16; see ARTICLE SPIRITUAL GIFTS FOR BELIEVERS, P. 1632. ).
APOSTLES. The title “apostle” is applied to certain leaders in the NT. The verb bet it
It means: to send someone on a special mission as a messenger and personal representative of the sender. The title is used of Christ (Hebrews 3:1), the twelve disciples (Matt 10:2), Pablo (Romans 1:1; 2Co 1:1; Gal 1:1) and others (Acts 14:4; Romans 16:7; Gal 1:19; Gal 2:8-9; 1Thess 2:6-7).
(l) The term “apostle” is used in the NT in a general sense for an appointed representative of a church, such as the early Christian missionaries. Thus, in the NT “apostle” referred to any messenger appointed and sent as a missionary or for some other special responsibility (see Acts 14:4; Ac 14:14; Romans 16:7; 2Co 8:23; Phil 2:25). They were men who manifested extraordinary spiritual leadership, were anointed with power to directly confront the powers of darkness and to confirm the gospel with miracles, and were dedicated to establishing churches according to truth and apostolic purity. Those traveling servants risked their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the advancement of the gospel (Acts 11:21-26; Ac 13:50; Acts 14:19-22; Acts 15:25-26) They were Spirit-filled men of faith and prayer (see Acts 11:23-25; Acts 13:2-5; Acts 13:46-52; Acts 14:1-7; Ac 14:14; Acts 14:21-23).
(2) In that general sense, the apostles are still essential to God’s plan in the church. If churches stop sending out Spirit-filled people, then the spread of the gospel throughout the world will be hindered. On the other hand, as long as the church produces and sends out such people, it will fulfill its missionary task and remain faithful to the great commission of the Lord (Matt 28:18-20).
(3) The term “apostle” is also used in a special sense, to refer to those who saw Jesus Christ after his resurrection and received the commission from the risen Lord to preach the gospel and establish the church (eg, the twelve disciples and Pablo). They had extraordinary authority within the church related to divine revelation and the original gospel message that cannot exist in anyone else today (see Eph 2:20, note). That is why the office of apostle in this specialized sense is exclusive and cannot be repeated. The original apostles cannot have successors (see 1Co 15:8 note).
(4) A preponderant task of the NT apostles was to establish churches and see that they were founded or restored with sincere devotion to Christ and NT faith (cf. Joh 21:15-17; 1Co 12:28; 2Co 11:2-3; Eph 4:11-12; Phil 1:17).
This task comprised two main obligations:
(a) the urgent God-given desire to maintain the purity of the church and its separation from sin and the world (1Co 5:1-5; 2Co 6:14-18; Jas 2:14-26; 1Pe 2:11; 1Pe 4:1-5; 1Jn 2:1; 1Jn 2:15-17; 1Jn 3:3-10) Y
(b) a continuing obligation to proclaim the NT gospel and defend it from heresies, new theological trends, and false teachers (Romans 16:17;1Co 11:2;1Co 11:2;2Co 11:3-4; 2Co 11:14grades; Gal 1:9note; 2Pe 1:1-21; 2Pe 2:1-22; 2Pe 3:1-18; 1Jn 4:1-6; 2Jn 1:7-11; Jude 1:3-4; Jude 1:12-13; see ARTICLE BISHOPS AND THEIR DUTIES, P. 1554. ).
(5) Although the early apostles who laid the foundation of the church have no successors, the church today still depends on their message and faith. The church must obey and remain faithful to its original writings. Reject the Lord Himself (Joh 16:13-15; 1Co 14:36-38; Gal 1:9-11). On the other hand, to believe the apostolic message, to obey it and to protect it from all distortion is to remain faithful to the Holy Spirit (Ac 20:28; 2Ti 1:14) and ensure the continuing life, blessing, and presence of God in the church (See Eph 2:20note).
PROPHETS. The prophets were believers who spoke under the direct impulse of the Holy Spirit in the name of God, and whose main interest was the spiritual life and purity of the church. Under the new covenant the Holy Spirit…