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NASB | Ephesians 4:11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 4:11 And [His gifts to the church were varied and] He Himself appointed some as apostles [special messengers, representatives], some as prophets [who speak a new message from God to the people], some as evangelists [who spread the good news of salvation], and some as pastors and teachers [to shepherd and guide and instruct], |
Bible Question: Are these 'gifts' valid ministries valid in the church today? If not, specify what invalidates them (it)? Please try to use scripture, not tradition. |
Bible Answer: My previous response dealt primarily with other gifts but not really apostleship. To do this, we would need to define the Biblical use of "apostle" to determine this. Although "apostle basically means, "Sent one," I think most (if not all) of us could agree that not everyone "sent" (or called out for special ministry) by God is necessarily an apostle. I think a paraphrase of the definition of "apostle" used by many who consider it no longer in effect is basically "one who was taught authoritatively by Christ in person and then recognized by the other apostles". The original 11 chose Matthias by lot because he had been with them the whole time (Acts 1:15-26) and (apparently) continued to replace those who died during the foundation period of the Church in the same way. Some suggest that this was an error and that Paul was meant to be the 12th, but this is speculation. I don't know much about lots, but I assume there was potential of receiving a "No" answer rather than a selection; I think there are examples of this result in the O.T. Please correct me if I'm wrong in this. The 12 also recognized the apostleship of Paul. Does Paul fit the definition? Yes. He received special individual instruction from the risen Christ -- Gal 1:11-16, 2 Cor 12:1-7 and elsewhere. This is a logical definition, and it would end with the death of the generation who witnessed Jesus's earthly ministry; under this definition a Biblical "aposte" today would have to be trained as Paul was, and such a one would presumably have similar authority. I can think of some false cults with such leaders, but I'm afraid I don't know very much about the potentially orthodox groups in "Apostolic" churches. Clearly they would reject such a definition. |