Apostles and prophets

DaveO claims:

The only apostles and prophets alive today are false ones.:

To be an apostle you must:

1. Be an eye witness of the resurrected Jesus Acts 1:21-26; 1 Cor 9:1

2. Be sent and called by Jesus personally Gal 1:1

3. Perform signs and wonders confirming that God sent them. Acts 2:43; Acts 5:12; Mark 16:20; 2 Cor 12:12

These are REAL signs and wonders performed by REAL apostles and prophets, that REALLY happened to confirm that their message was from God. There are signs and wonders fabricated by false apostles and false prophets like we have today, who have a false message and another Jesus.

"For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their deeds." 2 Cor 11:13

"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Matt 24:24

"Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to FULFILL THE WORD OF GOD; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but NOW is made manifest to his saints" Col 1:25-26

False apostles and prophets are leading others away from the foundation that HAS BEEN laid by the true apostles and prophets. Those who claim to be apostles and prophets today are false, with a false gospel and a false foundation.

Acts 1:21-26

Ac 1:21 Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

Ac 1:22 Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

Ac 1:23 And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.

Ac 1:24 And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all [men], shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,

Ac 1:25 That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.

Ac 1:26 And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Does this event warrant the claim that anyone using the title apostle must have been an eyewitness to the resurrected Lord? If that is what is implied, then consider the actual requirement. What happened to the first requirement?

They accompanied them all the time that Jesus walked among them before the crucifixion, from the time of John the Baptist to the crucifixion.

They must be a witness of the resurrection.

Paul would be disqualified by the first requirement. He did not accompany them all that time. Even after the resurrection he was busy hunting down Christians to have them killed. Therefore this event was not intended to limit the number of people called apostles. Furthermore, Matthew brought the number back up to 12. If that was a magic number, then Paul is again disqualified as being the 13th.

Why would Dave ignore the "requirement" that an apostle must have walked with them the whole time? He simply picks the parts he likes. He selects the second part, and makes it the sole requirement discerned from these passages. The reality is that Dave is merely parroting someone else's teaching. He did not make this obvious error on his own. He is merely teaching the traditions of men, who prefer non-biblical titles of missionaries.

If this event was intended to specify requirements to be called an apostle, then the second requirement is that they are a witness to the resurrected Lord. Once again, this poses more questions than it answers:

Did Paul see the resurrected Lord? He makes the claim that he did. But no one else there saw him. This is problematic because if Jesus really appeared in the flesh to Paul, then Jesus snuck back to earth for a secret second coming.

If it was a spiritual experience, then how can Paul be a witness to a physical resurrection?

It is doubtful that Dave would say that Jesus snuck back in the flesh. This would make him a Preterist heretic in the eyes of his Greek friends. They really like calling each other names. And if he claims it was only spiritual, he disqualifies Paul as being a witness.

I must give Dave credit for believing it simply because it is in the Bible, even though he does not understand it. It is OK to not understand things. His fault is in publicly condemning the brethren in the midst of his confusion. This is why not many are called to teach, but Paul's desire is that all should prophesy.

Twelve is the prophetic number of witnesses to the Jews. Matthew was called to be an apostle to the Jews. And he was called by God through men. They cast their lots for him. Paul references this is stating his own qualifications as an apostle. Paul was called to be an apostle to the gentiles. As we examine Paul more closely we will find out the true attributes of an apostle to gentiles.

Paul apostle to the gentiles

Ro 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:

Peter apostle to Jews, Paul to Gentiles

Ga 2:7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as [the gospel] of the circumcision [was] unto Peter; Ga 2:8 (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)

1Co 9:1

1Co 9:1 ¶ Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?

1Co 9:2 If I be not an apostle unto others (Jews?), yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.

What are the things Paul references as his qualifications as an apostle?

1. He is free to eat and drink (referring to unclean foods) , to marry , to cease work (in order to preach) . Though he was free, he did not use that freedom .

2. He has seen Jesus Christ our Lord. We are confronted with this fact again, but this time in truth. The Greek has a nasty either-or-conflict. The truth is different.

Paul, the model of a New Testament apostle

Be assured of one thing: simply claiming the title does not make one an apostle any more than claiming to be a Christian makes you one.

Ro 1:1 ¶ Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

Ro 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:

1Co 9:1 ¶ Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?

1Co 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

2Co 1:1 ¶ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:

2Co 11:5 ¶ For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.

Ga 1:1 ¶ Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

Eph 1:1 ¶ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

Col 1:1 ¶ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,

1Ti 1:1 ¶ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;

2Ti 1:1 ¶ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

Paul is the model for the present day apostle: He did not walk with Jesus in the flesh from the time of John until the crucifixion.

After Judas had hanged himself, the remaining eleven disciples chose to replace him. Why? What is special about the number 12?

1 Cor 9:1