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Eph 4:13. Μέχρι, till) Not even the apostles thought themselves to have reached the goal, Philippians 3; much less the Church. They had always to go forward, not to stand still, much less to fall behind. And now the Church must not contemplate from behind the idea of its own excellence, but keep before its eyes that idea as a future one, which is yet to be attained. Attend to this, ye who do not so much follow antiquity as make it an excuse.-καταντήσωμεν, till we arrive at) This tense, following the past tense, is imperfect [He gave some apostles, etc., till, and in order that, we all might arrive at]. This ought to have already taken place at the time when Paul wrote; for faith [which he speaks of, “the unity of the faith”] belongs to travellers.[59]-οἱ πάντες) all, viz. the saints.-εἰς-ΕἸς-ΕἸς, unto-unto-unto) [Asyndeton] The repetition is without a connective particle. The natural age (life) grows up towards wisdom, strength, and stature. The things which correspond to these in the spiritual age (life), are, unity of faith, the mind strengthened [Eph 4:13, τέλειον ἄνδρα, and Eph 4:16, answer to this], and the fulness of Christ.-ἑνότητα, unity) This unity is placed in friendly opposition to the variety of gifts, and to the whole body [“we all”] of the saints; and the contrary of this unity is every wind, Eph 4:14.-τῆς πίστεως καὶ τῆς ἐπιγνώσεως, of faith and knowledge) These two words both agree and differ; for knowledge means something more perfect than faith.-τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ, of the Son of God) The highest point in the knowledge of Christ is, that He is the Son of God.-εἰς ἄνδρα τέλειον, to a perfect man) The concrete for the abstract; for unity and measure are abstract nouns: concerning perfection, comp. Php 3:15.-ἡλικίας, of the stature) that Christ may be all and in all: ἡλικία, spiritual stature is the fulness of Christ.
[59] The sense seems, though not very clear, owing to Bengel’s extreme brevity, All ought to have been by this time on the one and the same path of faith. For faith is the distinguishing characteristic of those who, as travellers, are seeking to arrive at the goal.-ED.