"An apostle is an envoy, sent on a mission to speak for the one sending him and having the sender's own authority."1 The apostles are the foundation of the church (Eph. 2:19-22). To be an apostle one must meet the following qualifications:
- Seen the resurrected Christ (1 Cor 9:1; 15:7-9)
- Chosen personally by Jesus (Matt. 10:1-4; Gal. 1:1)
- Performed miracles, signs, and wonders (2 Cor. 12:11, 12)
1 Zondervan Expository Dictionary of Bible Words
3 comments:
My Bible study teacher says that one of the reasons the apostles all saw the risen Christ is that they were all going to die for their faith in Christ, except John who was going to be boiled in oil and then exiled on Patmos! They had to be convinced of the resurrection! We do too! Serving a living Savior is so crucial to our faith. Walking by faith through life's daily mundane activities or through life's trials is possible when you have a living Savior!
You mean there are no apostles today? What about churches of the apostles?
I do not believe there are apostles today. No one seems to be fulfilling the biblical requirements. Some claim to be but the evidence is not overwhelmingly clear as it was with the new testament apostles.
"Some charismatics actually believe that the phenomena we are seeing today prove that god is giving new revelation, authenticated by fresh miracles, through the agency of modern apostles. That whole notion ignores the biblical role and function of the apostles. They were special men for a particular role in a unique ere. The apostles were the foundation for the developing church (Eph. 2:20). That foundation is now being built upon; it cannot be laid again. There can be no modern-day apostles." Charismatic Chaos, John MacArthur
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