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Apostles
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Hi, I'm Dave DeWitt, and today I'd like to talk about what the Bible says about apostles.
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The word apostolos translated apostle or apostles means sent one, and it occurs 80 times in
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the New Testament. In the Gospels, it occurs 10 times, always refers to the 12 men personally
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appointed by Jesus. The word occurs 28 times in Acts, 39 times in the Epistles, three times
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in Revelation. The verb to send, apostolo, occurs 132 times in the New Testament.
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I'd like to say a few things about Matthias as a replacement for Judas, since it's discussed
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a lot in the Christian community. As a replacement for Judas, Peter led the 11 to choose two men,
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quote, who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
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and they drew lots for them, and they fell on Matthias, and he was added to the 11 apostles.
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There's no reason to assume the appointment of Matthias was illegitimate.
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It was as the initiative of Peter, but so were most of the early acts of the church.
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Would we assume Peter's sermon in Acts 2 and 3, or his healing of the lame men at the beautiful gate,
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or his defying the Sanhedrin's order to not preach, were these things illegitimate because they were
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at the initiative of Peter? Matthias is not mentioned after this, but neither are most
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of the 12. The appointment of Matthias was never denounced by Jesus or anyone, and he was included
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in the early acts of the apostles, like the tongue-speaking healing and teaching before the
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conversion of Paul. Paul said Jesus appeared to the 12 and all the apostles before he appeared to
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Paul, so there's no reason to assume the appointment of Matthias was illegitimate.
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Now let's talk about the 12. The 12 apostles are repeatedly identified as a specific group
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throughout the New Testament. The 12 are unique in that they not only were commissioned by Christ
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to start the church, they were also to retain their identity as 12 apostles beyond this age.
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After the second coming of Christ, the 12 apostles will sit on the 12 thrones judging
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the 12 tribes of Israel, according to Matthew 19, 28, and Luke 22, verse 30. When we read about the
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eternal city, the New Jerusalem, we learn, quote, and the wall of the city had 12 foundation stones,
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and on them were the 12 names of the apostles of the Lamb, close quote.
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What about the apostle Paul? When we read Acts 9, we're introduced to a 13th man by the name of Paul,
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who is called an apostle of Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians 9, 1. Paul is like the 12 in that,
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first of all, he witnessed an appearance of Jesus after the resurrection. Second, he was sent out
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as a witness by Jesus personally. Third, he had power from God to do miracle signs and wonders.
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And fourth, he associated with and was in fellowship with the 12. There's at least
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four others, Barnabas, Titus, James, the Lord's half-brother, and Epaphroditus, who are called
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apostles. But there is another observation we can make about those named as apostles.
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After Jesus commissioned Paul in Acts 9, there's no one else called an apostle except those
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connected to the ministry of Paul. The reference to Barnabas as an apostle was only made by Luke,
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and it's in a collective reference to Barnabas with Paul. Barnabas is clearly not appointed
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an apostle by Luke. James, the Lord's brother, was clearly recognized as one of the
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elders of Jerusalem before Paul, and only Paul called him an apostle.
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Many suggest there is both an office of an apostle and a gift of an apostle
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because of Ephesians 4.11 and 1 Corinthians 12.28. But again, those are only listed by Paul.
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Peter called himself an apostle. Peter also said Paul, according to wisdom given to him,
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wrote scripture. So we can assume that Peter recognized Paul as an apostle of the Lord.
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But except for Paul, neither Peter nor anyone else in the New Testament
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ever called anyone beyond the twelve an apostle. Others were sent out for ministry.
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The word apostle means sent one, and the verb form means to send. Certainly there is a sense
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in which missionaries might fit the description of someone sent out with the gospel. The verb
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to send, apostolo, occurs 132 times in the New Testament. For example, Romans 10.15,
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how will they preach unless they are sent? That's apostolo. First Peter 1.12,
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through those who preach the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.
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There we have the Holy Spirit called an apostolo, by apostle. These missionaries
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understood themselves to be sent by the Holy Spirit, and they were recognized as qualified
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by some assembly of believers, often by laying out of hands. So there is a metaphorical sense
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in which they're apostles via small letter a today. This use is however confusing because
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it gives the word apostle to two different kinds of definitions.
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If we were to define apostle as the original twelve plus Paul, there are no apostles today.
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Here's why. The apostles were the foundation of the church. Ephesians 2.19 and 20.
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So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you're fellow citizens with the saints
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and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets,
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Jesus Christ himself being the cornerstone. The church is described as a house with a foundation.
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The house sits on its foundation, but the rest of the house is not the foundation.
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A house does not continue to lay its foundation. So there's a distinction between the beginning of
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the church and the continuing of the church. The church is still being built, but the foundation
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is established. There's no new foundations, just as there are no new cornerstones.
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Paul called himself the last of the apostles. In 1 Corinthians 15.7 and 8, we read,
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quote, then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all,
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as to one untimely born, he appeared to me also, close quote. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul talked
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about the appearance of Christ saying he appeared to him last. But notice that he talked about all
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the apostles and placed himself in the last of the group. The most likely way to understand this is
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that Paul considers himself not just the last to receive an appearance, but the last of the group
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of all the apostles. After the original apostles, only false prophets are found in the church.
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Revelation 2.2, quote, I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance that you cannot tolerate evil
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men, and you pet to test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them
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false, close quote. Some teach that this passage reveals that the first century assumed there were
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others who were called apostles in the church, or they would not have evaluated them. Maybe,
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but notice that they did not find any other true apostles. This was written in the AD 90s,
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so no other new apostles were ever identified after Paul's death in the late 60s.
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So notice this was before the apostle John closed the canon of scripture in Revelation 22.
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So after that, there'd be no new apostles, since an apostle might bring about a new revelation
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from God. The apostles were given new revelation from God, but new revelation ended with the book
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of Revelation. Ephesians 3, 4, and 5 says, by referring to this when you read, you can understand
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my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons
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of men, as it's now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit. In 1 Corinthians
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13, 8, he said, love never fails, but if they're gifts of prophecy, they'll be done away. If they're
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tongues, they'll cease. If there's knowledge, it'll be done away. And then in Revelation 22, 18,
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I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them,
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God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book. The old destined prophets did not
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receive revelation about the mystery, which is the church age. That was only given to the New
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Testament apostles and prophets. But since new prophetic revelation ended with the book of
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Revelation, there could be no apostles today, or they would be a source of new revelation from God.
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The apostles had authority in the church, which they never passed on to anyone.
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1 Thessalonians 2, 6, quote, nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others,
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even though as apostles of Christ, we might have asserted our authority.
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In 3 John 9 and 10, John writes, deatrophies, who loves to be first among them, does not accept
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what we say. For this reason, I will come and call attention to his deeds.
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Only Christ the apostles had authority in the church. The apostles could give directives as to
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what should be taught, how the church was to function, and who should be appointed as leaders.
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But no apostle ever appointed another apostle. They appointed elders, and Paul sent Timothy
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to appoint bishops and deacons. These appointed leaders were to have responsibility
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in administrating the activities of the church, but not authority over the church.
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Only the apostles had authority, which they did not pass on to other leaders. Today,
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only the Bible has authority in the church. Believers in leadership positions have only
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responsibility, not authority. No mainstream Christian theologian ever taught that there
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were apostles like the original apostles in the church today. Consider the teachings of Athanasius,
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Augustine, Aquinas, Wycliffe, Huss, Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Wesley, Edwards, Darby, Moody,
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Ryrie. The covenant community would add men like Knox and Warfield, and dispensationalists would
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add men like Chafer and Walvoord. But none of them claimed that there were apostles in the church
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after the first century. So, as a conclusion, Jesus named 12 apostles, 12 original apostles,
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with Matthias replacing Judas. Then Paul was added by Jesus especially as an apostle to the
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Gentiles. Paul expanded the definition of an apostle to include others connected to his ministry,
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but that began and ended with Paul. No other apostles sent out apostles,
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and those Paul sent out appointed elders, bishops, and deacons, but not other apostles.
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There was never a succession of further apostles. Beginning with the second century,
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leaders were called bishops, elders, and deacons, but no prominent church leader ever suggested
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there were apostles or ever would be apostles beyond the first century. He is to 19 and 20
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once again, quote, you are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the
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apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. Thank you for listening.
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If you'd like more about this subject, there's a paper available on relationalconcepts.org.
