Ephesians 4:11

And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some pastors and teachers.

This is a characteristic Pauline insertion, prompted by his mention a moment earlier of Christ "filling all things," which of necessity meant that he filled the church. How did Christ do such a thing? He did it in the manner in view here, through the faithful preaching of men in all generations who would declare the saving message.

As Bruce observed, there are two pairs of offices in view here: (1) apostles and prophets, and (2) evangelists and pastor-teachers.[23] The first pair were effective in the founding of the church, and the second pair are required in all generations. The omission of "some" before "teachers" indicates that the meaning is teaching-pastors, or pastor-teachers. The failure of some to see that the word "pastor" is a New Testament synonym for "elder" or "bishop" has led to some rather fanciful comments, such as:

The fact that neither bishops nor elders are mentioned is an indication that we are still some distance removed from the developed organization that we find around the turn of the first century.[24]

All kinds of scholarly misconceptions are evident in a remark like the above. The "organization" of the Lord's church did not "develop" but was given from the very first. Paul ordained elders among the churches established on his first missionary tour (Acts 14:23). In fact, the verse before us says: "He gave," that is, the Lord gave the offices mentioned, including that of elder or bishop, called here pastor-teachers.

[23] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 85.

[24] Francis W. Beare, op. cit., p. 691.