Why apostles now

Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? Once the church of Christ was established and Christianity was given its initial presentation cf. Colossians , the apostolic office faded from the scene along with the age of miracles.

Neither apostles nor miraculous gifts was needed any longer. They had served their temporary purpose Mark ; Acts ; ; ; Romans ; Hebrews ; cf. Exodus Miraculous gifts functioned as scaffolding while the church was under initial construction, and were removed once the structure had been completed 1 Corinthians ; ; Ephesians Consequently, people now have access to everything they need 2 Peter to enter into a right relationship with God via Christianity and the church of Christ.

Apostles, quite simply, are no longer needed! Unfortunately, several groups that claim affiliation with the Christian religion allege to have apostles among them, including Catholicism, Mormonism, and some pentecostal groups. This claim is unbiblical. No person living today can meet the qualifications given in Scripture for being an apostle.

Christ has selected no one living today for the apostolic role. No one living today possesses the miraculous capabilities of an apostle. We should not be surprised that people would falsely claim to be apostles. Paul described some of his opponents in these words:. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.

And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works 2 Corinthians Anyone claiming to be an apostle today who teaches anything in addition to the New Testament is clearly not an apostle of Christ!

Matthew , Catholicism maintains that Peter was the supreme bishop, even over the other apostles, and that every pope since Peter is an apostolic successor to Peter. The pope is selected after literally hours and days of deliberation by cardinals in the Vatican.

The only apostle in the Bible that was not handpicked by Christ in person was Matthias. Yet he was not selected by mere men deliberating and debating his potential.

He was selected by the casting of lots—which was simply another way for Jesus to do the selecting Acts ; cf. Proverbs It is incredible to think that any human beings living today would presume to appoint apostles. In pinpointing the credentials of an apostle, Luke Acts 1 made it abundantly evident that to qualify as an apostle a person would have to have seen the Lord and been an eyewitness of His resurrection. What alleged modern-day apostle could make such a claim?

The New Testament also makes clear the fact that an essential characteristic of an apostle was that he had been selected by Deity.

When Jesus was on Earth, He handpicked the first twelve apostles. After His departure from Earth, the disciples cast lots to select a successor to Judas. Their method allowed no input from mere humans—except in the recognition that two men possessed all the qualifications necessary to be an apostle. The Bible does use the word in the sense of a missionary today.

A missionary is sent from the local church with authority to represent the teaching of that church. In order to understand the qualifications of an apostle who has the right to lay the foundation of the church and write Scripture, we need to see those biblical standards. It is critical that we do not use our personal experience to do so. In Acts Peter set forth the standards for choosing a new apostle and setting the qualifications.

Not everyone could be considered for an apostleship. Candidates needed to have been with Jesus during his life among them. That is, he needed to be an eyewitness of Jesus. Jesus personally appeared to Paul personally. This encounter with the resurrected Lord revolutionized his life. Following his conversion, Paul spent time in Arabia where he was personally taught by Christ Galatians — The other apostles recognized that Jesus Himself had appointed their former enemy to be one of them.

As Saul went into Gentile territories Jesus, who gave Paul his apostleship, authorized him to write over half of the books of the New Testament. Paul identifies the office of apostle to serve His churches 1 Corinthians —30; Ephesians Clearly, the work of apostleship was to lay the foundation of the Church in a sense secondary only to that of Christ Himself Ephesians —20 , thus requiring eyewitness authority behind their preaching.

After the apostles laid the foundation, the Church could be built. No biblical evidence exists to indicate that the apostles were replaced when they died. Jesus appointed the apostles to do the founding work of the Church, and foundations only need to be laid once. The same principle applies to the New Testament: propheticity determines canonicity. The church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets Eph.

Apostles, by their very office, were accredited spokesmen for God. There was also the gift of prophecy 1 Cor. So, in the New Testament as well as the Old, the determining factor in whether a book was canonical was its propheticity. Every New Testament book was written by an apostle or prophet. Thus each book has either apostolic authorship or apostolic teaching. And in either case it possesses apostolic authority. Matthew was an apostle. That relationship notwithstanding, Mark had his own God-given ministry Acts ; 2 Tim.

The author of Luke was an associate of the apostle Paul Col. Luke also wrote Acts John was an apostle. He wrote John, three epistles bearing his name, and Revelation Rev. Paul wrote at least the thirteen epistles that bear his name Romans-Philemon. The author of Hebrews is not known for sure.

But whoever its author was, he received revelation from God Heb. James was a half brother of Jesus James ; Gal. The apostle Peter authored two epistles see 1 Pet. This leaves only Jude, who was also a half brother of Jesus Jude ; cf.

There is good evidence that all twenty-seven books of the New Testament come from the apostles and their associates. Indeed, even some liberal scholars are now insisting on a very early apostolic date for the New Testament books. Bishop John A. Ample evidence confirms that all the books of the New Testament are apostolic or prophetic. The question that remains is whether all the apostolic books are in the New Testament.

Two books in particular have been called into question: the so-called Epistle of the Laodiceans Col. These books pose a problem concerning canonicity because they were both prophetic and yet are allegedly not in the canon.

If propheticity is the key to canonicity, how is it that some prophetic or apostolic books are not in the canon? There are two basic responses to this question. First, it is possible that these books were not prophetic, for in addition to their divinely authoritative writings, the prophets and apostles had private or personal correspondence. They may even have had grocery lists, travel itineraries, or the like. Such items were not inspired. There seem to be two keys as to whether or not a writing by a person who was a prophet was prophetic.

First, it had to be a public , not strictly a private writing. That is, it had to be offered to the people of God and not merely a private record. Second, it had to be teaching something to the people of God.

In short, it had to be a word from God for the people of God. All of these books contain instructions written to leaders of churches, and the books were obviously circulated and collected by the churches. Otherwise they would not have been part of the Bible through the centuries. Later the pastor made some compromises, but because of our ongoing relationship, we could step in and help him.

The whole situation came off right. Unfortunately, the importance of relationships often gets eclipsed by organizational structures.

This may be another reason the apostolic gift has been overlooked. Apostles aren't concerned with carrying an organization from generation to generation, but making new generations.

It's about reproduction. It's familial. It's relational. In established denominations, local churches are often supervised by bishops or district superintendents. These are positions designed for the expression of the apostolic gift, but many of these offices are now occupied by people lacking the gift. It's a case of structure trumping gifting.

Speaking to those bound by denominational structures, Beasley says, "I encourage superintendents to start having lunches with pastors and visit their churches for reasons other than to fill the pulpit.

Building the relationship and trust is the goal. The paternal bond between apostles and pastors underscores the source of apostolic authority. It isn't organizational or institutional, but an authority rooted in personal experience and trust. Beasley says, "Those with the gift of apostleship care deeply about people and pastors. They care so much they want to raise up more pastors. As essential as the apostolic gift is to the church and its mission, those who possess the gift recognize it carries a price.

Visionary types tend to bite off more than they should at one time. Beasley also sees leaders who are apostolically gifted increasingly frustrated by church structures that inhibit their calling. They are forced to make a decision. Either create a way for the gift of God to be lived out, or continually suppress it. Sections Home. Bible Coronavirus Prayer. Subscribe Member Benefits Give a Gift. Subscribers receive full access to the archives.

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