The Bible says some are called to be apostles (I Corinthians 12:28).\u00a0 Why then do we emphasize that no one fulfills the condition of being an apostle currently? Or is it a similar word but has a different meaning?<\/p>\n\t
An apostle is an ambassador of sorts (i.e., one with official authority to speak for the person or nation being represented) and a disciple is a follower.\u00a0 So, all Christians would be disciples of Christ because we would all be following Christ. That would not be true of an apostle.\u00a0 If I went to a foreign country and misbehaved, I could easily hurt the reputation of my fellow countrymen, but that would be about the limit of it.\u00a0 However, if an ambassador misbehaves, there could be serious repercussions.\u00a0 The difference is that the ambassador has authority that is not carried by an average citizen.<\/p>\n
Mark 3:14 and Luke 6:13 says that an apostle was a designation that was intentional and there are just a couple of passages that suggest that others were designated later.\u00a0 However, there is no succession plan or qualifications for designating an apostle other than those given in Acts 1:21-22.\u00a0 In that list, the minimum qualification was that they had to be with Jesus from the time of his baptism and also a witness of the resurrection.\u00a0 That would narrow down the field to just a few hundred people.<\/p>\n
Even so, we are not actually without apostles now.\u00a0 Quite often we have a limited view of life mostly due to what we actually can observe.\u00a0 We may know someone who is the owner of a store.\u00a0 When the person dies, he is no longer the owner.\u00a0 Ownership passes along to someone else.\u00a0 We, therefore, think that someone ceases to be something just because they die and, therefore, all things associated with that person also have to pass to someone else.<\/p>\n
One of the challenges that Jesus faced when talking to men is getting them to realize that the spirit realm is not interrupted by death.\u00a0 Jesus is still Lord (Romans 10:9), even though he died. Jesus said in Matthew 22:32 that God intended for us to understand that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were alive, even though they had died. Even so, the apostles did not cease to be apostles just because they died. The authority given to them was and still is binding.<\/p>\n
We get the Word of the Lord through the written words of the apostles. They still live; therefore, their word is still binding. It is a lot easier now because we only have to look at the Word and anyone who disagrees with the Word is not to be believed or followed (Galatians 1:6-10). I Corinthians 1:21 also says that it was God’s design that the word of salvation is spread by preaching. To people in the world that is a poor way to do it. The world likes to have flamboyant showmen. They also want to have a person to believe in. However, that very attitude was getting the Corinthian church in all sorts of trouble. In the first chapter, Paul chews them out because they are trying to hold on to specific teachers when they are supposed to be holding onto Christ. If we had modern apostles we would have the same issue; we would want to follow the people we see rather than the word that was confirmed to have come from God.<\/p>\n
By having the Word delivered and confirmed through the power of real miracles, the apostles left us with a testimony that cannot be shaken. The only way to hold on to Christ is through the word that was delivered. Jude 3 says that the intent had always been that the word was to be delivered just the one time. That means that, after it was delivered, it was not going to change. The job of the apostles was to show everyone that the word they were delivering was from God. Once it was delivered, there is no continual need for apostles to prove that it came from God.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: The Bible says some are called to be apostles (I Corinthians 12:28).\u00a0 Why then do we emphasize that no one fulfills the condition of being an apostle currently? Or is it a similar word but has a different meaning? Answer: An apostle is an ambassador of sorts (i.e., one with official authority to speak…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[170],"class_list":["post-52515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-apostles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35267,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-made-paul-an-apostle\/","url_meta":{"origin":52515,"position":0},"title":"What Made Paul an Apostle?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Galatians 1:11-24 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul was different from the other apostles \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He wasn\u2019t with Jesus when he was on earth \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He was not among the original twelve apostles - Luke 6:12-16 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He started out as a zealous persecutor of the church \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0D.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How is it that Paul\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28097,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-authority-of-the-apostles\/","url_meta":{"origin":52515,"position":1},"title":"The Authority of the Apostles (Johnson)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mike Johnson Many acknowledge the authority of God and Christ but do not accept or understand the authority of the Apostles. Some people today say we only need the words of Jesus to guide us. Some who take this position place a great deal of emphasis on the red-letter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63873,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-apostles\/","url_meta":{"origin":52515,"position":2},"title":"The Apostles (Sermon)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Corinthians 11:1-15 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I Corinthians 12:28-29; Ephesians 4:11-13 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The world contains many strange ideas regarding apostles. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Mormons and some other denominations claim their organization is more truly like the first century church because they have apostles. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I have had some strong discussions with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1317,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/apostleship\/","url_meta":{"origin":52515,"position":3},"title":"Apostleship","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 1, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton \"Your church is not organized as the early church was. Where are your apostles?\" Such was the contention of two Mormon \"elders\" who came to my door one day. It is not the only time I have heard such a question; there are several denominations that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62260,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-signs-of-an-apostle\/","url_meta":{"origin":52515,"position":4},"title":"The Signs of an Apostle","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton The apostles of Jesus were eyewitnesses of the risen Jesus (Acts 1:13f). They had to have personally seen Jesus alive from the dead. Nobody today meets that criterion. But those Jesus chose to be sent out by Him as His personal eyewitnesses were also equipped by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12761,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-dont-think-you-proved-paul-to-be-an-apostle\/","url_meta":{"origin":52515,"position":5},"title":"I don’t think you proved Paul to be an apostle","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: There are so much strife and debate among the world and believers in Christ that it seems to be a waste of time that we debate among ourselves. So please understand that I do not come in the spirit of debate, but truly searching the Scriptures to see if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52515\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}