Ephesians 4:13

He exhorts them to strive to attain to the perfecting of faith, the essence of which is to hold fast to Christ as true and perfect God. Do not measure him by some human measure. Measure yourself by regarding him as perfect God in the …

Such are the preparatory exercises of gnostic discipline. And since the omnipotent God Himself "gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ;" we are then to strive to reach manhood as befits the Gnostic, and to be as perfect as we can while still abiding in the flesh, making it our study with perfect concord here to concur with the will of God, to the restoration of what is the truly perfect nobleness and relationship, to the fulness of Christ, that which perfectly depends on our perfection.

For there is also one Son (or Servant) of God, by whom we too, receiving the regeneration through the Holy Spirit, desire to come all unto one perfect and heavenly man.

For so long as abominable passions envelop a man like an after-birth, and fetter the limbs of the new man, his growth is impeded, and the man is not able to arrive at that measure of stature which is given by Christ, and concerning which …

In the future life we shall attain perfection. But in the present life we need all the help we can get from the apostles, the prophets and our teachers.

According to the traditions of the church and the apostle Paul, our resurrection will "be into a mature man and the stature of the fullness of Christ." This is the state in which the Jews claim that Adam was created and in which we have read that the Lord rose.

And writing to the Ephesians, he has unfolded in the clearest manner the point in question, speaking to the following effect: "Till we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we be no longer children, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, by the craft of men, by their cunning in stratagems of deceit; but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up to Him in all things," -saying these things in order to the edification of the body of Christ, who is the head and man, the only one perfect in righteousness; and we who are children guarding against the blasts of heresies, which blow to our inflation; and not putting our trust in fathers who teach us otherwise, are then made perfect when we are the church, having received Christ the head.

Till we all attain unto the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. But they will yet again question us on this point: How …

By "stature" here he means perfect "knowledge"; for as a man will stand firmly, whereas children are carried about and waver in mind, so is it also with believers. "To the unity," saith he, "of the faith." That is, until we shall be shown to have all one faith: for this is unity of faith, when we all are one, when we shall all alike acknowledge the common bond. Till then thou must labor to this end. If for this thou hast received a gift, that thou mightest edify others, look well that thou overturn not thyself, by envying another. God hath honored thee, and ordained thee, that thou shouldest build up another. Yea, for about this was the Apostle also engaged; and for this was the prophet prophesying and persuading, and the Evangelist preaching the Gospel, and for this was the pastor and teacher; all had undertaken one common work. For tell me not of the difference of the spiritual gifts; but that all had one work. Now when we shall all believe alike then shall there be unity; for that this is what he calls "a perfect man," is plain. And yet he elsewhere calls us "babes," even when we are of mature age; but he is there looking to another comparison, for there it is in comparison with our future knowledge that he there calls us babes. For having said, "We know in part," he adds also the word "darkly," and the like: whereas here he speaks with reference to another thing, with reference to changeableness, as he saith also elsewhere, "But solid food is for full-grown men." Do you see then also in what sense he there calls them full-grown? Observe also in what sense he calls men "perfect" here, by the words next added, where he says, "that we may be no longer children." That we keep, he means to say, that little measure, which we may have received, with all diligence, with firmness and steadfastness.

Until then, he says, all of us who have received gifts must act, labor, and build up, until we come to the unity of the faith, that is, until we all appear as having one faith, not differing in doctrines and having no disagreement among …

The bodies of all human beings will rise in the general resurrection, with no difference among them as to the order of time, but a great difference as to the order of dignity. For the wicked will rise with their deformities and punishments, miseries and …

He goes on to discuss the ultimate fruit of the Church's preaching which can be understood in two ways. One sees it as touching on the absolutely ultimate effect: the resurrection of the saints. In this perspective two facts are asserted. First is the spiritual …

God's children, as long as they are in this world, are growing. Dr Lightfoot understands the apostle as speaking here of Jews and Gentiles knit in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, so making a perfect man, and the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.

Till we all come in the unity of the faith,....

Till we all come - Until all Christians arrive at a state of complete unity, and to entire perfection. In the unity of the faith - Margin, into. The meaning is, until we all hold the same truths, and have the same confidence in the Son of God; see the notes on Joh 17:21-23. And of the knowledge of the Son of God - That they might attain to the satire practical acquaintance with the Son of God, and might thus come to the maturity of Christian piety; see the notes on Eph 3:

come in--rather, "attain unto." ALFORD expresses the Greek order, "Until we arrive all of us at the unity," &c. faith and . . . knowledge--Full unity of faith is then found, when all alike thoroughly know Christ, the object of faith, and that in His highest dignity as "the Son of God" [DE WETTE] (Eph 3:17, 19;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens

In the unity of the faith - Jews and Gentiles being all converted according to the doctrines laid down in the faith - the Christian system. The knowledge of the Son of God - A trite understanding of the mystery of the incarnation; why God was manifest in the flesh, and why this was necessary in order to human salvation. Unto a perfect man - Εις ανδρα τελειον· One thoroughly instructed; the whole body of the Church being fully taught, justified, sanctified, and sealed. Measure of the stature - The full measure of knowledge, love, and holiness, which the Gospel of Christ requires. Many preachers, and multitudes of professing people, are studious to find out how many imperfections and infidelities, and how much inward sinfulness, is consistent with a safe state in religion but how few, very few, are bringing out the fair Gospel standard to try the height of the members of the Church; whether they be fit for the heavenly army; whether their stature be such as qualifies them for the ranks of the Church militant! The measure of the stature of the fullness is seldom seen; the measure of the stature of littleness, dwarfishness, and emptiness, is often exhibited.