The cross was the means by which justification could be pronounced upon the guilty Jew and Gentile, “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). The condition for both was faith in Christ Jesus. Faith is not only the conditional requirement of every individual who would come into His body, but it is also a description of the gospel plan of salvation that was revealed in the last days. The unity of the faith and knowledge of the Son of God lead to completeness or maturity.
Closely associated with the particular unity in the body is the revelation and sharing of that plan that unites Jew and Gentile into one body by the cross (cf. Eph. 2:16). Paul writes of “the faith of the gospel” (cf. Phil. 1:27) and Jude 3 speaks of “the faith once for all delivered to the saints” for which he is to contend. This plan has been preserved as part of Scripture and Paul writes his last letter to Timothy saying, “Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Scripture is the product of the Spirit’s work of revelation. Paul explains in the Ephesian letter that the mystery of the gospel plan was revealed to him by the Spirit, but they could understand that that revelation by reading (Eph. 3:1-4). This is not an arrogant claim that requires a high level of intelligence to comprehend. Paul is clear that they could read and understand his knowledge in the mystery of Christ.
The contexts of these “fullness” passages tie the phrases to the gifts that God gave his people, i.e., apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors/teachers. The fact that the saints had Scriptures, in the sense of having the Old Testament and the inspired New Testament writings of Paul, Peter, and John, did not negate the work of Timothy and Titus or the work of shepherds that they were told to ordain in every city in which dwelt saints. The faith of the gospel to which these men were committed was under the direct care and guidance of the Holy Spirit in those days. It was not then, nor is it now, the product of human thought. Yet, the Holy Spirit accomplished His plan through human agents. For this reason, the gifted men shared the same role of teaching under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Also, His guidance was a promised gift of the Spirit through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, called “spiritual gifts” (cf. 1 Cor. 13:9-12). His work and the role of these gifted men and women were designed to produce the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So, they have either finished the work that corresponds with the end or completion of the age or they have not completed their work and the same power revealed in the first century is still being witnessed through them.
We either view Ephesians 4:13-14 like some do 1 Cor. 13:12 as referring to the end of time when earthly life will cease and the end of inspired guidance or we believe that they refer to the end of an era of direct revelation and inspiration, leaving behind their inspired work and tradition for succeeding generations to follow. Seeing that God’s revelation through the apostles and prophets is thoroughly adequate or sufficient to furnish the man of God completely and that Jude speaks of it being “once for all” delivered to the saints, that work of revelation has been completed.
The order left in these inspired letters is not the establishment of other apostles and prophets in the cities, but the tradition of on-going teachers (cf. 2 Tim. 2:2). Today, every saint in the body has the responsibility to apply the Spirit’s teaching to their own lives and share it with others. The principle that to whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48) assumes that we are not held to the same level of responsibility, but it does not negate some level of responsibility. The advantage of this age is that no one in the body can blame church leadership or plead ignorance for being carried off by the deception of false teachers (cf. Eph. 4:14). The truth of the gospel should still be spoken in love and it will cause growth in Christ, the head of that body (cf. Ephesians 4:15).