Five-Fold Ministry of Christ (Overview)

Pastor Jimmy R. Davis, Jr. (Exerpts from "The Church In the New Testament")

The Epistle to the church at Ephesus speaks of five "office gifts" that are given to the Body of Christ for a specific time and a specific purpose.

(Ephesians 4:8) Wherefore he saith, When He (Christ) ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men...
(Ephesians 4:11) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
(Ephesians 4:12) For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
(Ephesians 4:13) Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:

This article is not to explain each gift but to show that the five-fold ministry gifts are the purpose of God for this season. How these gift operate in the church specifically is not the purpose of this article but this article is an overview of the five-fold. I will also show the terms referring to the fivefold, the frequency of use in the scriptures, the purpose of these gifts, how long these gifts are to be in operation and the results of flowing in the five-fold. Later articles will address each gift and how it flows in the church.

Terms Referring To the Five-Fold
These gifts are given by Christ to the church.

The scripture reveals that the time of their release was during the ascension of Christ, therefore we refer to these gifts as "Ascension-gifts."
There are five gifts that were given by Christ, therefore we also refer to these gifts as "Five-fold ministry gifts."
In Ephesians 4:8 the scriptures say that Christ "gave gifts to men..." The Word "gift" in this verse is the Greek word "Doma." As a result, these gifts are also referred to the "Doma gifts".
Scripturally, the number five represents "grace." For example, in our modern culture, if we said that a football team "played like they were one" it would infer that the team was unified or in unity with one another. Therefore the number "1" represents unity or oneness. In the same way the number "5" represents God's grace. So the Five-fold ministry gifts are also referred to as the "Grace gifts."

It is important to understand that these gifts are a manifestation of Christ. Jesus is the Apostle and High priest of our profession, Jesus was a Prophet like unto Moses, Jesus was an effective evangelist and in fact, still draws all men unto Him, Jesus is the Great Shepherd (Pastor), Jesus is the greatest teacher that ever lived. The five-fold is a manifestation of the fullness of Christ' ministry in the earth. That being said, it is equally important to understand that no one person has all five gifts...only Jesus walked in this level of anointing, authority and power. However, the Holy Scriptures are clear that Jesus gave "some" of these gifts to "some" for a specific purpose.

It is interesting to note also that before His ascension Jesus chose twelve Apostles. These Apostles were to be the 12 foundational Apostles of the New Testament Church. I suppose it would be correct to see them as "pre-ascension Apostles." They were given a very great capacity to function in the Apostolic gift that is a measure different than the Apostolic release today. The present day Five-fold ministry represents the "post-ascension ministry gifts" and should not be confused with the purpose, function and season of the 12 Foundational Apostles. However, the power, purpose and season of the modern day Apostolic gift should not be minimized either.

The Five-Fold Ministry
Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher (Ephesians 4:11).
How does the New Testament handle the mentioning of these gifts? Kevin Connor says that there are:

about 81 references to Apostles
14 to Prophets (not counting references to Old Testament Prophets)
10 to teachers (scribe is mentioned 47 times but this is Master)
3 to Evangelist
1 to Pastor (plus 16 to Shepherd) which is the same Greek word).

The Purpose of the Five-Fold Ministry
The purpose for these gifts is clearly seen in Ephesians 4:12. The gifts are given:

For the perfecting of the saints
For the work of the ministry
For the edifying of the Body of Christ

The Length of the Five-Fold Ministry
The Book of Ephesians 4:13-16 reveals to us how long these gift would continue to be given to the church.

Till we all come in the unity of the faith
Till we all come to the knowledge of the Son of God
Till we all come unto a perfect man
Till we all come unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:

Since we have not yet all come to the fullness of these things, these gifts will continue to be critical to the fulfilling of the mission of the church. If any of these gifts are no longer given, it would follow then that none are given. If any of these gifts are still in operation today, it would follow then, that all of these gifts are still functioning in the church. There is no separating the "grace" given unto the church by Jesus Christ!

The Result of the Five-Fold Ministry

The perfecting of the saints (Ephesians 4:12).
The saints are equipped for the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:12)
The Body of Christ is edified (encouraged, strengthened, built up) Ephesians 4:12
The saints become strong and are able to withstand doctrinal error (Ephesians 4:14)
The saints are matured (no more children) (Ephesians 4:12; 15)
We all learn to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).

It is very important that the Church flow in the results that the five-fold ministry brings to the Body of Christ.

The Challanges

I see four immediate challenges when it comes to operating in the five-fold and receiving these ministry gifts.

One is there are those who do not acknowledge the importance or operation of the five-fold ministry. The problem with this stance is that the five-fold has many significant purposes, one of which is to mature the saints for the work of the ministry. Without the five-fold ministry gifts it is literally impossible to fully and properly equip the saints.

A common issue in churches around the world is the seemingly lack of ordinary Christians doing extraordinary things. Why are 20% of the people doing 80% of the work? Could it be because most people don’t feel competent to step up to the ministry in which they were called? This concern is corrected when the fullness of the five-fold does the work of equipping the saints to do the work of the ministry.

Secondly, there are those that have labeled themselves according to the five-fold ministry gifts but are not really five-fold ministry gifts. They are what the scriptures call "false-apostles", "false prophets", “false teacher”, the “hireling” which cares nothing for the sheep (John 10:12-13) but posing as shepherds. These counterfeits make it difficult for people to receive the true gift because often they misused, abuse and merchandise the people of God. The "catch 22" is that when the true five-fold equips the saints they are able to recognize these false gifts (Ephesians 4:14).

Thirdly, is the misconception that apostolic people think that they have authority to "add to the scripture." This is not true, however, there are those that have overstepped their authority and scriptural boundary and have arrogantly suggested that they can. I would say that these people probably fall in the category mentioned above. I must reiterate that most Apostolic people have an excessively high regard for God's Word, His truth, His order, His principles and His ways and are not willing to compromise the truth of God or the warning not to add or take away from the Scriptures.

Fourthly, modern day prophets speak the heart of God into the earth. If there are no prophetic people then most of today’s "set men" in the church would need to find another vocation. Every Sunday there is a proclamation to the people of God concerning the will of God for their lives. Every day the Lord has a message that He wants to speak to His people.

A true prophetic five-fold gift will not intentionally violate the mandate of the authority of Scripture. Every prophetic word must agree with the written Word of God; the prophetic word is subject to the written Word.

Conclusion
To believe God’s Word and to respond properly to His Word is the responsibility of every Christian. As is shown in this brief overview, the Church that Jesus is building (Matthew 16:18) will be a church that represents the fullness of who Christ is. The five-fold gifts are given by Christ to the church at His ascension because He expected them to operate in His church. Let us be obedient and respond appropriately to His purpose.