To what does "until we all attain to the unity of faith" refer?

Explanation:

Paul explains that Christ gave special roles to the church in order for all to attain to the unity of the faith of the knowledge of the Son of God. We can understand what Paul means by the unity of the faith by considering the special roles that Christ gives in order for us to attain to such unity. Paul told us in Ephesians 4:11 that Christ gifts the church with apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers who will build up the body of Christ until the unity of the faith is attained. Of course, one of the primary roles of apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers is teaching. Since all of the gifts given by Christ are teachers, and the role of teachers is to teach sound doctrine, attaining to the unity of the faith likely has to do with acknowledging a body of doctrine related to Christianity. ⁴

Counterargument:

While it might be that we ought to consider the roles that Christ gives the church in order to understand what it means to attain to the unity of the faith, a preliminary gloss suggests that teaching doctrine is not what unites these roles. In other words, this view argues that all of the roles given by Christ have the task of teaching so that unity of the faith has to do with learning doctrine. Unfortunately, it is not clear that all of the roles have the task of teaching, for if they did, then the mention of teachers would be superfluous and redundant. Rather, it might be that teaching is one aspect of each role, but the roles of apostle and prophet might have as much to do with proclamation as teaching doctrine. Thus, when taken together, what these roles seem to have in common is facilitating a subjective experience of putting one’s faith in the living Christ.⁵

Response to counterargument:

The point here is not that each of the roles gifted to the church by Christ has the one and only task of teaching, for the inclusion of teachers in the list obviously rules this out. Still, a common element that binds each role is the capacity to teach. In fact, Paul stresses in several passages the ability for elders to teach and pass on what has been taught. For example, in 1 Timothy 3:2 he explains that elders must be able to teach. In 2 Thessalonians 2:15 he exhorts the Thessalonians to stand firm in the traditions taught to them. And these traditions were taught by Paul who was an apostle. Further in 2 Timothy 2:1–2, he tells Timothy to pass on what he has been taught by Paul to others who are able to teach. So we see that teaching and learning right doctrine was a priority for Paul, likely because there is a close connection between right doctrine and unity in the faith.

Explanation:

We want to understand what it means for all to attain to the unity of the faith (Ephesians 4:13). Does unity of the faith mean coming to a subjective experience of Christ, or accepting the doctrines of Christianity? It is likely that Paul has accepting the doctrines of Christianity in mind. We can deduce this by what follows Ephesians 4:13. We read in Ephesians 4:14 that the purpose of being built up by the apostles, prophets, etc., so as to attain to the unity of the faith, is so that the Ephesians will no longer be tossed around by every wind of doctrine.⁶ In other words, there are false doctrines concerning how to explain reality as a whole, and how to understand Christianity. Thus, it is important that church members learn the true doctrine of the faith, taught by the apostles, prophets, etc., so that the body of believers would be united in the truth.

Counterargument:

While it may be that the unity of the faith will prevent the Ephesians from being carried away by every false doctrine, this does not mean that the unity of the faith has to do with learning right doctrine. For knowledge of doctrine is a mental activity, having to do with logic and reason, but logic and reason is no guarantee against false doctrine. For what if the false teachers make a better argument, or use more sound reasoning, than the teachers who teach sound doctrine? Rather, what Paul is getting at in Ephesians 4:13 is that unity of the faith has to do with attaining to the character of Christ. ⁷ Those who attain to the unity of the faith, attain to that unity by reaching the stature of Christ. Of course, Christ has the ideal character, who not only knows right doctrine, but also has spiritual wisdom and lives a righteous life, all of which guard against the winds of false doctrine.

Response to counterargument:

While it might be that reaching the full stature of Christ has to do with living according to the standards of Christ’s character, our question is, What does Paul mean by the unity of the faith? There seems to be a progression in Ephesians 4:13.⁸ The gifts are given to the church in order that we would all attain 1) to the unity of the faith 2) and of the knowledge of the Son of God, 3) to mature manhood, and 4) to the full stature of Christ. So while it might be that reaching the full stature of Christ is the end goal, one step in that goal is the unity of the faith, which has to do with learning the doctrine that unites all believers.

Possible weaknesses:

The weakness of this view is that Paul makes no mention of doctrine or knowledge of right doctrine in these verses. So this interpretation takes it that faith is a short form for doctrines of Christianity. It is not clear that Paul uses faith this way. Further, we risk undermining the importance of a subjective experience of trust in Christ when we overemphasize knowledge of doctrine.

Explanation:

Paul says that Christ gave gifts to the church in order that its members reach the unity of the faith. What is the unity of the faith that Christ’s gifts aim to engender? It can be nothing other than faith in Christ. Faith in Christ is the subjective experience that the believer has with Christ and has to do with believing and trusting that Christ is the Saviour. When a believer puts his faith in Christ he comes to see that Christ is Lord, and then he realizes that he is united to a whole group of individuals who also believe that Christ is Lord.⁹ Thus, attaining to the unity of the faith means that Christ gave the apostles, prophets, and so on, in order to produce faith in individuals who then realize they are united as a collective.

Counterargument:

It is true that faith in Christ unites God’s people, but we want to know what Paul means by unity of the faith in Ephesians 4:11. In context, we find that Paul is not explaining the simple fact that all believers are united in the sense that all believers have in common that they have faith in Christ. Rather, he is explaining the reason why Christ gave the church the roles of apostle, prophet, and so on. And why did Christ give such roles? Most likely so that believers would learn right doctrine, and therefore be united under the one collection of orthodox faith.

Response to counterargument:

This argument begs the question. That is, it is not obvious that Christ gave the apostles, prophets, and so on, in order to teach right doctrine, unless one believes that what Paul means by unity of the faith is learn right doctrine. For it is just as likely that Christ gave the apostles, prophets, etc., not only to learn doctrine, but so that people would come to a subjective experience of faith in Jesus Christ. In other words, while the prophet or shepherd might teach right doctrine, knowledge of right doctrine is meaningless without a living relationship with the risen Christ. Of course, prophets and shepherds know this, which is why they not only teach right doctrine, but persuade their audience to put their faith in Christ.

Explanation:

We can deduce that Paul means by attaining to the unity of the faith because the unity of the faith has to do with the knowledge of Christ.¹⁰ That is, Paul says the gifts were given to the church in order that all may attain to the unity of the faith of the knowledge of the Son of God. So what does knowledge of the Son of God have to do with the unity of the faith? We know from elsewhere that for Paul, knowledge of the Son of God has to do with the subjective experience of faith. For example, in Ephesians 3:14–19 he prays that the Ephesians would come to a knowledge of the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that they may be filled with the fullness of God. Paul’s point here is that the Ephesians would come to know and experience the love of Christ. Paul writes something similar in Philippians 3:10 where he explains that knowing Christ has to do with knowing his suffering, becoming like him in his death. In other words, knowing Christ is not about cerebral knowledge, but one’s affections, trust, and love.¹¹

Counterargument:

The problem with this argument is that it overlooks the conjunction and in Ephesians 4:13. Specifically, what Paul writes in Ephesians 4:13 is that all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. In other words, Paul says that the gifts are given to the church by Christ for several reasons, including attaining to the unity of the faith, as well as attaining to the knowledge of the Son of God. One might argue that attaining to the unity of the faith has to do with coming to know the basic doctrines of the faith, while knowledge of the Son of God might have to do with doctrines and a subjective experience of belief in Christ.

Possible weaknesses:

The one weakness of this view is that it does not consider the context that follows. There Paul suggests that avoiding false doctrines is the reason Christ gives apostles, prophets, etc., to equip the church in the unity of the faith. Given the context, it seems that Paul has in mind right understanding of Christian doctrine. Still, it is true that the subjective experience of believing in Christ unites believers, so we should not discount this element of unity.

Explanation:

We want to know what Paul means when he says that Christ gave gifts to the church in order for all to attain to the unity of the faith. It’s important to notice that attaining to the unity of the faith has to do with knowledge of the Son of God. Of course, we also know from Ephesians 1:18–19 that the general knowledge Paul has is in mind in Ephesians is the knowledge of the mystery of salvation. Further, we know that the knowledge of the mystery of revelation has to do with the fact that the Gentiles are included as the people of God (Ephesians 3:6). Putting it all together, we conclude that the unity of the faith has to do with the knowledge that the Gentiles are included with the people of God.¹² 

Counterargument:

It’s hard to see how this argument can go through. The fact is, Paul does not say that the unity of the faith has to do with knowledge of the mystery of revelation that the Gentiles are included as heirs. Rather, he says that the unity of the faith either stands on its own or has to do with knowledge of the Son of God. If attaining to the unity of the faith is an independent concept then it’s hard to see the connection between unity of the faith, which might have to do with learning the same doctrine, or having the same subjective experience of Christ, and the revelation that the Gentiles are included as God’s people. Further, if unity of the faith is connected to knowledge, that knowledge is not of the revelation that the Gentiles are included as the people of God, but the knowledge of the Son of God. In either case, there does not seem to be a connection in Ephesians 4:13 between unity of the faith and the revelation that the Gentiles are included.

Possible weaknesses:

The weakness of this view is that it views the letter of Ephesians in too narrow a scope. For, it might be that the revelation that the Gentiles are included as God’s people is an important insight that Paul shares in this letter. Still, that he shares this important point does not mean that the entire letter is about the inclusion of the Gentiles as the people of God. Rather, Paul also offers pastoral wisdom by reminding the congregation that Christ gifted the church for the unity of the faith.