The Gift of Apostle
Cessationist claim that the gift of apostleship ceased with the passing of the Apostles. If we are going to rely solely on scriptures then there is no place where even hints that the apostles were a temporary gift. I will say that the original Apostles were unique in the history of the church. There will never be any like them ever again. There are the Apostles and those who serve as apostles. The Apostles is a title like the Twelve. The office of apostle is a position of leadership.
In two places in the New Testament Paul refers to the apostles as one of the gifts Christ gave his church.
Ephesians 4:11 (NASB95) And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
1 Corinthians 12:28 (NASB95) And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.
Although not all spiritual gifts are offices, all offices are gifts to the church. One of the gifts Christ gave his church was the apostles, but they were a temporary gift.
Although I am not a big fan of the modern apostolic movement I do believe that the office of apostle is a gift that continues. The main argument against apostles is that since they are part of the foundation of the church, they are no longer needed since the church has been established. I would counter that the church has not been established throughout the whole world. There is still a need for God appointed leaders to follow the Apostle Paul’s model and establish churches throughout every tribe, tongue and nation.
The author uses a narrow definition of apostle to add weight to his argument. “No one meets the qualifications anymore, which included being an eye-witness of the life of Christ and his resurrection. You also had to be personally appointed by Christ and be able to work miracles.”
According to scriptures there were other apostles. Matthias who was chosen to replace Judas (Acts 1:26) Paul, Barnabas (Acts 13:2), Silas (1 Thes 2:7) and James the half-brother of Jesus (Gal 1:19). More than just the twelve were considered to be apostles. Paul claims that there were false apostles in operation (2 Cor 11:13) and if that gift were limited to only the twelve it would have been ludicrous to claim to be an apostle in the first century. God even praises the church at Ephesus for testing men who claimed to be apostles (Rev 2:2). And if I might add that the Didoche, written about 120 AD, contains instructions for receiving prophets and apostles. So there is an early church tradition that there were more than just the original twelve.
In two places in the New Testament Paul refers to the apostles as one of the gifts Christ gave his church.
Ephesians 4:11 (NASB95) And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
1 Corinthians 12:28 (NASB95) And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.
Although not all spiritual gifts are offices, all offices are gifts to the church. One of the gifts Christ gave his church was the apostles, but they were a temporary gift.
Although I am not a big fan of the modern apostolic movement I do believe that the office of apostle is a gift that continues. The main argument against apostles is that since they are part of the foundation of the church, they are no longer needed since the church has been established. I would counter that the church has not been established throughout the whole world. There is still a need for God appointed leaders to follow the Apostle Paul’s model and establish churches throughout every tribe, tongue and nation.
The author uses a narrow definition of apostle to add weight to his argument. “No one meets the qualifications anymore, which included being an eye-witness of the life of Christ and his resurrection. You also had to be personally appointed by Christ and be able to work miracles.”
According to scriptures there were other apostles. Matthias who was chosen to replace Judas (Acts 1:26) Paul, Barnabas (Acts 13:2), Silas (1 Thes 2:7) and James the half-brother of Jesus (Gal 1:19). More than just the twelve were considered to be apostles. Paul claims that there were false apostles in operation (2 Cor 11:13) and if that gift were limited to only the twelve it would have been ludicrous to claim to be an apostle in the first century. God even praises the church at Ephesus for testing men who claimed to be apostles (Rev 2:2). And if I might add that the Didoche, written about 120 AD, contains instructions for receiving prophets and apostles. So there is an early church tradition that there were more than just the original twelve.
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