4:12

This verse explains the purpose of Christ giving some of his people these special abilities that Paul mentioned in 4:11. The purpose is to give the ability to all God’s people to work for him, so that they all may grow and become stronger in their faith.

4:12a

to equip: The phrase to equip means to “make able and adequate” to a task. Paul intended that they would be up to the task and fit to serve God’s people.

Here is another way to translate this:

to equip God’s people to do his work (New Living Translation (2004))

the saints: A literal English translation of the Greek is “holy ones.” It means “people set apart for God.” This Greek word refers to every believer.

See how you translated the saints in 3:8a. See Holy, Meaning 1, special use in the Glossary for more information.

for works of ministry: The phrase works of ministry means “to work serving God.” Notice that Paul did not say that the apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors are the ones who are equipped to work for God. He says that the apostles and others are to prepare “the saints” to work for God. All of God’s people are to work for him.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

the work of serving (New Century Version)
-or-
would learn to serve (Contemporary English Version)

4:12b

and to build up the body of Christ: This clause begins with and to. It tells why Christ appointed some people to be apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors and teachers (4:11). He appointed people to these positions so that they could prepare all of God’s people to work for him (4:12a).

Here are some other ways to translate the phrase and to :

for (Revised English Bible)
-or-
He did that so

build up the body of Christ: The body of Christ is a metaphor that refers to all Christians. To build up the body of Christ means to cause all Christians to become strong in their relationship with Christ (the head of the body) and with each other (other members of the body). If it is not clear what the body of Christ refers to, you can make it explicit. For example:

and build up the church, the body of Christ (New Living Translation (2004))

build up: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as build up is a verb meaning “to construct (a house).” He uses the same word in 2:22a and 4:16b. Paul is using the word in a figurative sense that means “cause to grow strong” or “make complete and mature.”

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

and his body would grow strong (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
make the body of Christ stronger (New Century Version)
-or-
cause the assembly of Christians/believers to be more mature

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