APEST: The Only Gifts Given by Christ

In our first post in this series – APEST vs Spiritual Gifts – What’s the Differnce? – we noticed that the APEST giftings have certain qualities that none of the other giftings have, namely, they are the only gifts that:

1. Are Given by Christ
2. Derive from the events of Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension
3. Contain Foundational Elements
4. Come with an Equipping Mandate
5. Can Develop us into the Fullness of Christ

In this post we are going to look at the significance of APEST being given by Christ, and how that can shape the way we understand the nature of these five giftings.

The Christ

In Ephesians, Paul uses a variety of terms when speaking about Jesus. The table below captures those terms and their frequency of use in the letter.

Term	Frequency
Jesus	20
Christ	43
Lord	27
Beloved	1
Head	3
Peace	1
The New Human	2
Cheif Corner	1
The Inner Human	1
Son of God	1
Complete Man	1
Stature	1
Offering	1
Sacrifice	1
Savior	1
Master	1

Terms for Jesus in the book of Ephesians

As you can tell, the terms Lord, Jesus, and Christ show up with the most frequency, with Christ taking the lead. But let’s pause here to make an importnt observation about the word Christ:

It is not a divine title.¹

In other words, it is not a term that points to Jesus’ divine nature (there are other terms for that). The word Christ means “chosen” or “anointed” or “messiah”. And for a Jewish person in Paul’s day, to identify someone as Israel’s Messiah was to simultaneously identify them as Israel’s King, God’s son, and a descendant from the line of David (2 Sam. 7:8-17; Psalm 2; 1 Tim 2:5; 2 Tim 2:8). In short, when Paul says Christ, it points to Jesus’ humanity, not his divinity.

The New Humanity of Christ

While “Christ” is the leading term in Ephesians (used 43 times), it is not the only term Paul uses that points to Jesus’ human nature. Surprisingly, there’s quite a few.

1. Jesus – a common name for humans in that day
2. The New Human – a reference Jesus’ own new humanity that was formed by deactivating the hostility in his own flesh, a hostility that was encoded and enculturated in Jewish traditions that aimed at denegrating Gentiles (2:14-15; 4:24)
3. The Inner Human – the Spirit strengthens us to journey towards Christ who dwells in our hearts through trust (3:16)
4. Son of God – a term that can designate either a divine being, or the human King of Israel (4:13)
5. Stature – a term used to describe someone who had arrived at a certain developmental stage, making them fit for a particular task or function (4:13)
6. Complete Man – a term used to describe a man who was mature and well rounded (4:13)

All six of the above terms describe the human nature of Jesus in its perfected, mature form. But Christ did not start out with a perfected, fully mature, human nature. He started out – like the rest of us – with a corrupted human nature. And his corrupted human nature – like ours – was constantly trying to lead him down a path that would further that corruption – both in himself, and those around him. As Paul describes in 2:14-15, Jesus had forces within his flesh that were directing him to live his life according the inherited traditions of his culture i.e. to promote, practice, and perpetuate hostility towards people who were “un-circumcised.”

By resisting those forces in his flesh, and ruling over them, he was able to render those forces inoperative, creating space for Jesus to participate with God in forging a new humanity within himself, one that expressed itself in peaceful interactions towards those who did not share in his bodily characteristics, or covenantal status (2:15-16). This new way of seeing and relating to people – not by what they are “not” in relation to us, but by what they “are” in relation to God – was brought to full maturity at the cross where Christ chose to sacrificially offer himself in equal measure for both Jews and Gentiles.

Gifts that Come from His New Humanity

And what does this have to do with APEST? A lot, actually. When Paul says that APEST is given by Christ, he is wanting us to see these five giftings as flowing out of the one and only human who was able to successfully conquer evil, and complete the developmental process of bringing their human nature into full participation with the Divine nature. Christ the King resisted and ruled over the corruption in his human nature, choosing to partner with God in the creation a new humanity within himself, one that was fashioned according to God in righteousness and holiness (4:24), not the deceitful desires of his flesh (4:22).

Now, in his glorified, resurrected body, Christ is the source (head) of all genuine human progress. And this is where we begin to see APEST in its proper context. The five-fold giftings of APEST are given by Christ to empower the development of his new humanity within us, expressed vocationally through apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, shepherding, and teaching functions. In short, through the equipping that each APEST gifting provides, what took place in Christ can now start taking place in us. We, too, can start partnering with God in the development of our human nature, growing and maturing into the fullness of Christs’ new humanity.

Through the equipping that each APEST gifting provides, what took place in Christ can now start taking place in us.

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At Trimtab, we help people apply APEST in their leadership, teams, and organization so they can continue developing into the fullness of Christ. You can get in touch with us by clicking the button below. We would love to have a conversation about how we can serve you.

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1. For more on the title of Christ, see NT Wright’s The New Testament and the People of God and Jesus and the Victory of God.

Tim Catchim

Tim is the Team Leader of Trimtab. He’s an author, coach, consultant, and trainer. He’s also planting a church called OneLife with his amazing wife Tiffany in Nashville TN. He is energized by helping people reach their full potential in Christ He also enjoys basketball, camping, and reading.