The sentence sits inside Paul's job description for church leaders: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are given — not to do the ministry alone, but "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry." The grammar has quietly revolutionized churches for two millennia: leaders equip; the whole congregation ministers; and the building being raised is people.
Edification, in the city of edifices
"Edifying" is literally oikodome — house-building. Ephesus lived on that word: the city was a permanent construction site of temples, libraries, gymnasia and warehouses, its skyline forever in scaffolding. Paul's image would have sounded almost municipal to its first hearers — except that in his project every believer holds a trowel, and the tolerances are set by love: the body "maketh increase... unto the edifying of itself in love" (4:16).
Standing in the verse
Modern Ephesus is still a building site — conservators and archaeologists at work behind their barriers most seasons. We like this verse beside the ongoing restorations: stones patiently returned to their courses, a fair picture of what verse 12 says a congregation is for.
Sources & further reading
- Ephesians 4:7–16 (KJV) — Bible Gateway — read the passage in context
- Britannica: Letter of Paul to the Ephesians — the epistle