This first clause states the general aim of Christ’s gift of teachers to His “called out”. Then follow subordinate aims needful for its attainment. The ultimate aim of these gifts (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers) was for the “equipping of the saints.” The Greek implies correcting all that is deficient and completing in number and all parts. This equipping of the saints was for “the work of the ministry.” The Greek text does not have the article so that Paul is explaining that these men were given to equip saints in service that would, in turn, edify the body. Taken together, these men were the first-century leaders who not only revealed God’s will and its application but were the agents of the Spirit in distributing spiritual gifts and regulating its use.
We will give more attention to the duration of their work in later blogs, but the phrase “until we 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” is often thought of not being attainable in this life. The common response to the description of “perfection,” is “Well, I’m not perfect or you.” If Paul was refering to individual perfection as in Philippians 3:12-14, then I would agree that it is never attained in this life. He appears to use the word is this way in Colossians 1:24-ff as Paul describes his pursuit to present every man perfect in Christ. The word for “perfection,” katartismós, is not found elsewhere in the Greek Testament. Outside the New Testament, Galen, the physician of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161–180) uses it of setting a joint to make one sound. We render it “perfection,” as it implies the result of “perfecting,” and is found in 2 Cor. 13:9. The cognate verb means “to perfect” in 1 Thess. 3:10, 2 Cor. 13:11, Luke 6:40, 1 Pet. 5:10; “to restore” in Gal. 6:1; “to mend” in Matt. 4:21, and “to frame” in Heb. 13:21.
The problem with the text and interpretation is whether it is to be applied individually or as a collective body. In favor of an individual application is the use of the word “man.” The word for man (anēr) is distinguished from ánthrōpŏs, meaning “a human being.” From this knowledge, it is concluded that Paul is discussing a full-grown individual in verse 13, not the collective new man from both Jew and Gentile (cf. 2:15).
However, we should note that it is part of the context dealing with fullgrownness or maturity (Greek, “perfect”). The word, anēr, is sometimes used to distinguish a man from a woman, and sometimes from a small boy, 1 Cor. 14:20, or an infant, as I think the context shows here and in 1 Cor. 13:11. Just because Paul uses the word anēr for man doesn’t mean that he must be making an individual application. The contrast is between “man” and “infant,” completetion vs. incompletion, maturity vs. immaturity. He’s not talking about individual maturity but the one body made from both Jews and Gentiles. Paul refers to this “one new man” in Ephesians 2:15 as he speaks of one new man being created from Jews and Gentiles. This was the revelation of the mystery that was hidden in the past, the completion of the “one faith” in which all saints (both Jews and Gentiles) are built and united. Ezekiel prophesied about this when he writes about two sticks that represent two houses in Jews and Gentiles that would be united into one body under one king and dwell in the new tabernacle. At the same time he would pour out his Spirit on Israel, raise them up, and put a new heart in them.
In many ways, the early disciples as a body of Christ were coming into manhood, not knowing exactly what their world would become. This stands in contrast to being “children carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14). Paul is discussing a time of maturity. The perfect man is the perfect Body, of which our Lord is the Head (Eph. 4:15). The acceptance of Gentiles into the body of Christ was not readily accepted overnight but took this transition period to complete or perfect. This same context is further attested by the following verse 14 which speaks of “children carried about with every wind of doctrine.”