Apostleship

Romans 1:5-6

NKJV
Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

TLB
And now, through Christ, all the kindness of God has been poured out upon us undeserving sinners; and now He is sending us out around the world to tell all people everywhere the great things God has done for them, so that they, too, will believe and obey Him.

The meaning of the word “apostle” is “the sent one.”

John 13:16 (Young's Literal Translation)
verily, verily, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his lord, nor an apostle greater than he who sent him;

Those with the gift of apostleship have this awesome mission to plant new churches and ministries. They will go into places where the Gospel is not yet preached. They will cross cultures to reach unreached people groups and establish churches in challenging and dangerous environments. They will raise up and develop local leaders, calling, leading and training pastors to shepherd the new believers.

As they are the sent ones, apostles are primarily people of special commission and not people of special gifts. Everyone who is sent of God is an apostle. Many called of God are not as gifted as the apostle Paul. But if they have received a commission from God and sent out by Him, they will receive grace and apostleship as they go forth in obedience to share the Christian faith among the nations in His name.

The spiritual gift of apostleship is very different from the office of an apostle.

The office of an apostle was only applicable and limited to the men chosen personally by Jesus such as His twelve disciples (Mark 3:13-19) and Paul (Romans 1:1).

The two compulsory requirements for the office of an apostle include:

1.  being personally called by Jesus (Galatians 1:1)
2.  being an eyewitness of Jesus’ ministry and resurrection (Acts 1:21-22, 1 Corinthians 9:1)

Jesus Christ had given the apostles He had chosen to do the things needed to establish His Church:

1.  Building foundations of the Christian faith (Ephesians 2:20)
2.  Writing the Scriptures (2 Peter 3:15-16)
3.  Doing signs and wonders and mighty deeds (2 Corinthians 12:12)

Today, nobody hold the office of an apostle. But the spiritual gift of apostleship continues on.

Ephesians 4:11-13
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,

12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,

13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

The apostles today do not have the authority to write the Holy Scriptures as the original apostles did.

Their apostleship was based upon their commission and not their giftings.

No man can attain to apostleship through natural or other qualifications. God must appoint him as an apostle and not anyone else. It completely depends upon the calling and sending of God.

Unless God calls and sends him, it is futile for anyone desiring to be an apostle simply because he thinks he has the required gifts or abilities or the right connections to become one.

Ambitious aspiration and good human intention can never take the place of divine commission.

Today those who have been sent out by the Lord to preach the gospel and to establish churches call themselves missionaries, not apostles.

The word “missionary” means the very same thing as “apostle,” that is, “the sent one.” It is the Latin form of the Greek equivalent, apostolos. Though the meaning of the two words is exactly the same, many true sent ones today prefer to call themselves missionaries rather than apostles. The title "apostle" is too high sounding and may be self-exalting. They would rather be servants serving others than rulers lording over others.

Mark 10:42-45

42 But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.

43 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.

44 And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.

45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Ironically, many, who are not called and sent out by God, name themselves apostles. Some even elevate themselves and claim to have the office of an apostle. They place their emphasis on unprecedented apostolic insights and invasion plans, ecstatic worship and unbiblical supernatural encounters, driving adrenaline shots into the believers to experience emotional and momentary highs. Their beliefs tend toward the bizarre as they move into unguarded extreme dimensions.

In conclusion, we will look into Ephesians 4:11-16 again:

NKJV
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,

12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,

13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,

15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—

16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

TLB

11 Some of us have been given special ability as apostles; to others He has given the gift of being able to preach well; some have special ability in winning people to Christ, helping them to trust Him as their Savior; still others have a gift for caring for God’s people as a shepherd does his sheep, leading and teaching them in the ways of God.

12 Why is it that He gives us these special abilities to do certain things best? It is that God’s people will be equipped to do better work for Him, building up the Church, the body of Christ, to a position of strength and maturity;

13 until finally we all believe alike about our salvation and about our Savior, God’s Son, and all become full-grown in the Lord—yes, to the point of being filled full with Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth.

15-16 Instead, we will lovingly follow the truth at all times—speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly—and so become more and more in every way like Christ who is the Head of His body, the Church. Under His direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly, and each part in its own special way helps the other parts, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
 
 

Written on: 19 October 2016