Note 16 at Eph. 4:11: This verse is a continuation of the statement Paul made in verse 8. He now explains that the gifts Jesus gave to men were the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. God gifted individuals with these callings and then gave these people to the body of Christ as gifts. These are not the only gifts God gave to men (see note 16 at 1 Cor. 12:8, p. 929).

Note 17 at Eph. 4:11: There are two different ways people have interpreted this word "some." There are those who think this is referring to some individuals receiving the gifts and there are those who think this is referring to some churches who receive these ministry gifts.

The first interpretation would describe the individuals who were called to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. God gave some people the gift of being an apostle, prophet, etc. The second view is saying that God gave some churches apostles while He gave other churches prophets, others evangelists, and others pastors and teachers.

Note 18 at Eph. 4:11: This is the only time the word "evangelists" is used in scripture. The word "evangelist" is used twice (Acts 21:8; 2 Tim. 4:5). In Acts 21:8, Philip, who was one of the first six deacons chosen by the Jerusalem church, was called an evangelist; however, there is no explanation of what he did that made him an evangelist. Then in 2 Timothy 4:5, Timothy, who was the first bishop or pastor of the church at Ephesus, was told to do the work of an evangelist. This implies that even those who may not be gifted with that specific calling can function as an evangelist.

It is commonly thought that an evangelist is someone who has a passion to lead people to the Lord. But every believer should have a passion for souls. It is more probable that an evangelist is someone who has a supernatural gift to bring people to the Lord. Everyone should share his faith with others drawing on the power of the Holy Spirit. But an evangelist ministers under a special anointing and does this for a vocation.

In the same way that all believers are to teach (1 Pet. 3:15), but that doesn't make them teachers, and everyone can prophesy (1 Cor. 14:31) but that doesn't make them prophets, likewise, everyone can and should minister to the lost, but that doesn't make them evangelists.

Note 19 at Eph. 4:11: This is the only time the word "pastors" is used in the New Testament. The word "pastor" was used once in the Old Testament (Jer. 17:16) and the plural "pastors" was used seven times by Jeremiah (Jer. 2:8; 3:15; 10:21; 12:10; 22:22; 23:1-2).

It was the Greek word POIMEN which was translated "pastors" here. This word means "a shepherd" and was translated "shepherd" or "shepherds" 16 times in the New Testament. Each time Jeremiah used the word "pastor" or "pastors" he used it in conjunction with sheep, which reflected the origin of the word.

We can see from this that the word "pastor" was not commonly used in the first century church. It is probable that the word "bishop," which was used four times (1 Tim. 3:1-2; Tit. 1:7; 1 Pet. 2:25), and the word "bishops" which was used once (Phil. 1:1) were the common way of referring to the overseer of the local church. Therefore, the qualifications of a bishop listed in 1 Timothy 3 would be the qualifications of what we call a pastor.

Note 20 at Eph. 4:11: The use of the word "some" and the punctuation in this verse is interesting. After each of the other gifts listed in this verse, there was a semi-colon. However, between the words "pastors" and "teachers," there is no semi-colon. The word "some" preceded apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors. But "teachers" seem to be grouped with pastors. This has led some to believe that pastor and teacher is one gift, making this list contain only four gifts instead of five. It could be that pastors are also teachers. If that is so, then this could clarify why pastors were not mentioned in the "Chain of Command" list given in 1 Corinthians 12:28 (see note 17 at 1 Cor. 12:28, p. 935). The mention of teachers could have been referring to pastors.