This article is part 1 of 1 in the series Authority under God:


Authority under God
  • The Office of Apostle

The Spring (2008) issue of Leadership Journal asked the question whether God intended a continuation of the office of “apostle” up to the present time? That issue has been debated a great deal. Everyone is familiar with the twelve men that Jesus called out and designated as “Apostles” (Lu 6:13). But what about the others in the Bible who are referred to as apostles? And, what about those in the present time who call themselves apostles?

I have been interested in this issue for a long time. In 2004, while I was preparing for my first missionary trip to Africa, a word of prophecy was given. The prophet said that God had called me to be an apostle in Africa. Now, I realize that well-meaning (& otherwise godly) prophets sometimes confuse their existing knowledge (& concerns) with the inspiration of prophecy (cf. 1Cor 13:9 & Acts 21:3-14). But this was a man that I have high regard for. So, my question about the office moved a bit higher on my list of “study this” doctrines.

While in Africa, many (most?) of the ministers with which I came in contact recognized me, both verbally & literally, as an apostle. My thinking at the time was that God had called me to do a work and that the primary issue was fulfilling the mission that I was given - not the title that someone may assign to that work. But again, the question of present-day apostles moved up on my priority list.

Now, almost five years after that first trip and three years after the second trip to Africa, I have been brought back to study this issue.

Over the past few months, I have felt a definite leading from the Holy Spirit to teach and preach on end-time prophecy. Following that lead, I began a series of teachings, in our mid-week service, on the prophetic books of the Bible. During my study of the letter to the Ephesian Church, in Revelation 2:1-7, I was struck by the statement in verse 2 (NIV), “I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.”

My question was… “If there was NO possibility that these men COULD have been apostles, why was it necessary to TEST their credentials? Now, I know that some readers may refer to the KJV text, “thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.” The use of “tried” in that version could refer to a judicial trial. If so, one could argue that the trial was to determine their punishment rather than the truthfulness of their claim. However, Strong’s defines the Greek word (3985 peirazo pi-rad’-zo) as follows: “to test (objectively), i.e. endeavor, scrutinize, entice, discipline:— assay, examine, go about, prove, tempt(-er), try.” It seems to definitely refer to the church TESTING the quality of their claim to the office. In this particular case, the claim was found to be false but the very fact that the claim had to be tested seems to prove that the church recognized that the claim COULD be true.

More precisely, they understood that some people of that day were, indeed, apostles. They recognized John (the Revelator) as an apostle already but others had to be “tested.” This agrees with 1Th 5:21 “Test everything. Hold on to the good” and 1Co 14:29 “Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.”

The next question that arose in my mind was, were there more than 12 apostles in the Bible? That, and other issues will be considered in the next installment to this study. Keep watching this site - it will be posted soon.

You Should Also Check Out These Posts:

More Active Posts: