Paul makes it clear that we must grow up in Christ. He wrote, “11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the [a]edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come 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 fullness of Christ;” (Ephesians 4:11-13).
We are given these “people” to equip us for the work of the ministry. To edify, literally means to build up. As we study this subject this will become clear. We cannot become Christians and then stagnate–we must keep growing in our understanding to a perfect man, the the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.