What does it mean to attain the measure of the stature of Christ?

Explanation:

What does it mean to attain the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ? The first thing to note is that the gifts of apostles, prophets, and so on are given for three purposes. Paul denotes these purposes with the preposition εἰς, which means toward, as in, toward a goal. ⁶ Thus, he says that the gifts were given εἰς (toward) the unity of the faith, εἰς (toward) mature manhood, εἰς (toward) the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Of course, unity of faith will come as the Ephesians grow in spiritual maturity, and mature manhood is another phrase for spiritual maturity. So the gifts given by Christ to the church have to do with building up the church toward the goal of spiritual maturity. So what is spiritual maturity, and how does one know when one has reached it? Paul completes Ephesians 4:13 by explaining that spiritual maturity is measured against the stature of the fullness of Christ. In other words, Christ is the paradigm example of spiritual maturity, and he gifts the church with apostles, prophets, etc., in order that her members would develop spiritually toward the standard of the spiritual maturity of Christ.⁷ Thus, the phrase, to attain…the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, might be paraphrased as to attain the spiritual maturity of Christ.

Counterargument:

The problem here is that Paul does not say anything about spiritual maturity. Rather, he says that the gifts were given to attain unity and mature manhood, to the stature of the fullness of Christ. Of course, we know that Christ lived a perfectly moral life as one who fulfilled the law. Thus, the stature of the fullness of Christ likely has to do with the standard set by Christ in terms of practical ethical living. This aligns with Paul’s three uses of the prepositional phrase εἰς (toward). For if εἰς is supposed to be the goal to which believers are growing, it is hard to see how the standard of Christ’s fullness could be one of the goals, unless there was some meaning behind what it is to attain the status of Christ’s fullness. Likely what it means is to live the ethical life that Christ lived. In summary, Christ gave the gifts of apostle, prophet, etc., to the church to attain unity, mature manhood, and ethical living.

Response to counterargument:

This view falls prey to its own standards. For this view holds that unless Paul says that attaining the stature of the fullness of Christ has to do with spiritual maturity, he likely has something else in mind. Then it posits that instead of spiritual maturity, Paul has practical ethical living in mind. Of course, Paul never says that the stature of the fullness of Christ has to do with practical ethical living. So why is the inference to spiritual maturity excluded while the inference to practical ethical living is permitted? The fact is, in either case we have to infer what it means to attain the stature of the fullness of Christ. The question is, Which interpretation makes most sense based on the context? Of course, given that the context has to do with reaching unity and mature manhood, spiritual maturity is more likely than practical ethical teaching. This is backed up by Ephesians 4:14 where Paul warns against being deceived by false doctrine, which has to do with spirituality, not ethics.⁸ Of course, ethical living is important to Paul, and spiritual maturity entails ethical living. But ethical living does not necessarily entail spiritual maturity.

Explanation:

To understand what it means to attain the stature of the fullness of Christ, it is important to see that Paul says believers are renewed after the image of Christ.⁹ Paul explains that believers are renewed after the image of Christ in several places. For example, in Romans 8:29, Paul writes that God predestined those he foreknew to be conformed to the image of his Son. Also, in 1 Corinthians 15:49, Paul says that at the resurrection we shall bear the image of the man of heaven. Finally, in 2 Corinthians 3:18 we learn that believers are being transformed into the image of the Lord.¹⁰ Of course, to be renewed in the image of Christ has to do with reaching the spiritual maturity of Christ. Thus, to attain to the stature of the fullness of Christ is to reach the maturity of Christ.

Counterargument:

This view has it that attaining the stature of the fullness of Christ has to do with being transformed in the image of Christ. It then asks us to agree that being transformed after the image of Christ is akin to spiritual maturity. The problem here is that if we agree that attaining the stature of the fullness of Christ has to do with being created after Christ’s image, we ought to understand what it means to be created after Christ’s image from the letter to Ephesians. In other words, Paul says that believers are made after the image of Christ in several letters, as has been argued. The fact is, what he means by transformed or made after the image of Christ can vary depending on the context. For example, in 1 Corinthians 15:49, Paul has in mind the state of believers after the resurrection. So 1 Corinthians 15:49 is not good support for the notion that being made after the image of Christ has to do with growing spiritually in this life. So does Paul say we are made after the image of Christ in Ephesians, and if so, what does he mean by it? In fact, in Ephesians 4:24 Paul calls believers to put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God. In this context, what does Paul mean by being created after the likeness of God? Likely this has to do with ethical living, for in Ephesians 4:22, Paul calls the Ephesians to put off their old nature, which is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and to put on the new nature created after the image of God (Ephesians 4:24). Thus, if attaining the stature of the fullness of Christ has to do with being created after the image of Christ, attaining the stature of the fullness of Christ has to do with ethical living.

Response to counterargument:

While it might be that the best way to understand what it means to be created after the image of Christ is to look to Ephesians 4:24, we should not narrow the meaning to ethical living. Ethical living is part of what it means to live the Christian life, but Paul has broader themes in mind throughout Ephesians 4:14–24. For example, in Ephesians 4:14 he talks about avoiding false doctrines, and in Ephesians 4:16 he discusses building each other up in love. And in Ephesians 4:17–18 he exhorts the Ephesians not to be alienated from the life of God due to hardness of heart and ignorance. Finally, he concludes this line of thought by calling the Ephesians to put off their old nature and to be renewed after the likeness of God. Of course, avoiding false doctrine, building each other up in love, and abiding in God are all features of existence that go beyond ethical living. That is, while it is ethically good to avoid false doctrines, it is also a mark of spiritual maturity. The same goes for building one another up in love and abiding in God. Thus, it is more likely that being created after the image of God has to do with spiritual maturity, which includes ethical living, than simply ethical living.

Possible weaknesses:

It is hard to see what the weakness of this interpretation might be. One possibility is that spiritual maturity does not quite capture the phrase the fullness of Christ. That is, maybe the fullness of Christ is more nuanced than spiritual maturity. Still spiritual maturity seems to capture the notion of growing in unity in the knowledge of the Son of God and mature manhood (Ephesians 4:13), so spiritual maturity is consistent with Paul’s overall train of thought in Ephesians 4:11–13.

Explanation:

Paul says that Christ gifted the church in order that her members unite, mature, and attain to the stature of the fullness of Christ. The term that we translate as stature is ἡλικία, and it can refer to age, as in maturity, or height.¹⁴ If the term refers to height, it is best to take it in the sense of measurement, as in reaching to the height of something. Based on the context, it is best to take the term in the sense of height. We can deduce this for two reasons. First, the references to fullness in this verse and to growth in Ephesians 4:15 are both related to the notion of height.¹⁵ Second, Paul introduced the metaphor of architecture in Ephesians 4:12 when he explained that the gifts of apostles, prophets and so on, are to build up the body of Christ.¹⁶ Of course, architecture has to do with height and measurement, so when Paul refers to the measure of the stature of Christ, he likely has the measure of the height of Christ in mind.¹⁷ What it means to attain the measure of Christ’s height will be explained in argument 2.

Counterargument:

The problem with this argument is that the examples offered support not only the notion that Paul has height in mind, but also the notion that he has age, and therefore something like spiritual maturity in mind.¹⁸ For spiritual maturity has to do with fullness and growth. That is, to be spiritually mature is to be full, as Christ is full. Likewise, one can only become spiritually mature if one grows, which is why Christ gifts the church with apostles, prophets, and so on. Second, the noun Paul uses for building has to do with the act of building. In other words, the term refers not to a physical building that has height but to the act of building. Of course, in order for one to grow spiritually, one needs to be built up, so it makes sense that Paul would use the noun in relation to spiritual maturity.

Explanation:

Paul explains that Christ gives gifts to the church so that it will attain to the stature of the fullness of Christ. In order to understand what it means to attain the status of the fullness of Christ, it is important to consider this phrase in light of an ongoing theme that Paul introduced in Ephesians 1:1–23.¹⁹ There he explains that God raised Christ and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, above all rule and authority (Ephesians 1:20–21). Next in Ephesians 2:4–6 we learn that God has raised believers and made us sit with Christ in the heavenly places. Finally, in Ephesians 4:10 we learn that Christ ascended far above the heavens, that he might fill all.²⁰ Taking these statements together, we can deduce what it means to attain to the measure of the fullness of Christ. For Christ’s measure is such that he fills the whole universe, both high and low, so that the measure of his height is universal.²¹ Further, believers have some share in the extent of Christ’s measure, as we are seated with him in the heavenlies. Still, we are not yet fully united to him, so Christ gives gifts to the church until we all attain to the measure of his universal presence.

Counterargument:

This argument holds that we ought to take measuring up to the stature of the fullness of Christ as measuring up to the height of Christ. It then asks us to equate measuring up to the height of Christ with measuring up to his presence in the heavenlies and throughout the universe. The problem here is that it is not at all clear from Scripture that believers will ever be everywhere present in the universe as Christ is. That is, filling the universe is a special feature of the divine nature, and nowhere in Scripture do we read that humans will share this special feature. Humans are said to be renewed in the image of Christ, and will be raised with a resurrection body, but humans will never be present by filling the universe. Second, it is hard to understand the connection between the offices gifted by Christ, and omnipresence in the universe. In other words, even if humans are going to fill the universe as Christ does (which we will not), it is not clear how apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers will help attain this end.

Possible weaknesses:

The weakness of this view is that it explains the term ἡλικία, which it renders as height, in a peculiar way that is foreign to the rest of Scripture. Whenever we find our interpretation is foreign to the rest of Scripture it is important to reflect on whether our interpretation may need refinement. In this case, refinement is called for because it is hard to see how believers will ever fill the universe as Christ fills the universe.