theology without a comma

I've been involved in the Vineyard since the late '80s. I am very thankful for the wonderful training and experiences this community has provided me over the years. Today I read a post, The Grammar of Equipping, by Steve Burnhope and it brought back some good memories. Burnhope's post was on Ephesians 4.11-14. Some versions have a comma in the middle of verse 12.

The KJV renders verse 12, "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."

I'm no Greek scholar but us Vineyard types prefer other translations here. The ESV for example reads, "to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ," the NIV has, "to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up" and the NKJV reads, "for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ".

Dropping that little comma changes the who is doing the work of the ministry. Without the comma, it's not necessarily the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers - it's God's people themselves. And it provides a special why. That is, these people are prepared so that they can do ministry and in them doing ministry the body of Christ is built up.

Bottom line, if you're a Vineyard guy (whatever that is), you don't like the comma.

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