We Need Authentic Apostles

09 Mar We Need Authentic Apostles

One of the arguments made against there being apostles today is that we don’t need them.  The idea is that they were brought along by Christ to write the Bible, and that given we now have the Bible we no longer have a need for apostles.  A scripture often used alongside this point is 1 Corinthians 13:10 which says, ‘when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.’  The idea is that we now have the full Bible, so we don’t need the apostles anymore.

There are a few things worth stating about this idea.

Firstly most of the apostles in the Bible didn’t participate in writing the Bible, and others like Luke who was not an apostle wrote the biggest word for word percentage of the New Testament.  Certainly of the 12 apostles, Matthew, John and Peter wrote things, but the rest of the New Testament is not written by the 12.  Paul was an apostle, not one of the 12, and so were James and Jude, but Luke certainly wasn’t, Mark wasn’t, and we don’t know about the writer of the Hebrews.

Secondly, the 1 Corinthians 13 passage isn’t actually talking about ministry gifts, but about spiritual gifts.  Some might not have picked up that this crucial chapter, read at weddings, is sandwiched in between two entire chapters talking about tongues, prophecy and the other spiritual gifts.  The reason it is place where it is, has to do with it being the motivation for the gifts.  Essentially it is prophecy that can fail, and prophecy that is in part, but when the fullness comes, that is we are in heaven, we will not longer need prophecy.  The reality is that it isn’t talking about the gifts of apostles, prophets and more.

Thirdly, but if it were talking about the ministry gifts, why do we single out apostles and prophets to say that we don’t need them, when we still have teachers, evangelists and pastors.  It is a bit arbitrary to split the list of ministry gifts like that.

Fourthly, it is when we actually read about the ministry gifts in Ephesians 4:7-13 that is becomes clear we do  still need them.

7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. ⁸ This is why it says:

⁹ (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions^[c]? ¹⁰ He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) ¹¹ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

For clarity, I have highlighted a few key components of the passage.  Firstly the ministry gifts mentioned here in verse 11 (the apostles, prophets etc) are appointed when Christ ascended.  These are different to the apostles Christ appointed on Earth, which refers to the 12 apostles.  It is also different to the prophets of the Old Testament who were in the past.  These ministry gifts are ascension gifts for the church as it functions in the world now.

And also, these people are appointed for ministry until a certain state of maturity exists in Christianity, which we clearly have not yet attained.

In other words, we still need them, because they haven’t finished their work.

NOTE: Many people have an idea of what an apostle is which may be incorrect.  Coming to understand what an authentic apostle is and how they are called, and what they are to do, may hugely help to alleviate confusion.