Eph 2:20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, … and… Eph 4:11-13 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, (12) to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, (13) until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
I find it difficult to
believe that anyone could assert that we have anything that remotely resembles
unity of the faith. In fact, with all the denominations and divisions, it seems
profoundly clear that the opposite is the case. Therefore, in my view apostles
and prophets still must be necessary to the body of Christ. Further, the office
of evangelist, pastor and teacher is still widely revered and accepted so why
not apostles and prophets?
So then, if there
should still be apostles in the body of Christ, what would that look like? What
is their function? I think that it is answered in Ephesians 2:20. They should
lay the foundation of the gospel of the kingdom. When you look up the Greek
word apostolos as it is used in the
New Testament, Strong provides this definition, [From G649; a delegate; specifically an ambassador
of the Gospel; officially a commissioner of Christ (“apostle”), (with
miraculous powers): - apostle, messenger, he that is sent.] Therefore,
an apostle is one with a specific call to be an ambassador or emissary of the kingdom
of God and the gospel of Christ. This gospel/kingdom focus will be the main
driving force in the life and mission of an apostle. Since they are sent forth,
they actually have within them the qualities of all of the five gifts. They can
function in any of the gifts for a period of time but they are called first and
foremost to be staunch defenders of the gospel of grace.
Here at the turn of the
twenty-first century, considering the condition of the church, realizing that
the leaven of the Pharisees has a strong hold within the evangelical church,
apostles should be busy trying to establish the foundation of the pristine
gospel. Apostles should be strong proclaimers of the grace of God. They should
be encouraging the saints to comprehend and accept the deep unconditional love
of the Father. They should comfort and console those who are being led astray
from the pristine gospel. If they are to rebuke at all it should be to those
who have taken leadership roles that are not promoting the pristine gospel of
grace, and are trying to lead the people into achieving righteousness by works
through fear.
They must insist that
the mixture of gospel and works righteousness be ended. The main reason that
the church today does not experience real profound signs and wonders is that
the signs and wonders are meant to establish and confirm the gospel of grace
(Acts 14:3.)
I especially like the
way it reads in the NLT;
(Act 14:3 NLT) But the apostles stayed there a long time,
preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord. And the Lord proved their message
was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders.
There you have it in
the plainest of speech… The signs and wonders confirm the Word of His Grace,
the gospel.
I can see that this
series will need several posts to cover the topics properly… especially in the
500-700 word per post format…….. More to come!
Seems to me that the church today is simply a corporation, like general motors and their chain of command. Today the "pastor" is the top cheese....
ReplyDeleteHi Joe,
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point that if there are some of these offices operating then all should be operating...picking and choosing some and not others is inconsistent.
On the other hand, it is also consistent to dismiss all of these gifts if some are not recognized. Indeed, none of these gifts are operating today since God has established the unity of the faith. Paul said they would vanish as they were temporary. The unity is a divine provision of breaking down the barrier between Jew and Gentile, which was accomplished by Paul and his ministry. Besides, it is not God's fault if the church has not properly appropriated what God has provided. There is no question of equality between Jew and Gentile via God's grace. The propagation of the Body is through older faithful men investing in younger faithful men.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Ross,
ReplyDeleteYour point is well taken... It would be consistent to dismiss all offices except, I cannot accept your premise that we have come to a unity of the faith with 30,000+ denominations. Brothers and sisters will not fellowship together and do not accept others as brothers and sisters. There is definitely NOT one Lord, one faith, one baptism.
The unity of the faith does not have anything to do with that. It has to do with what God has already done and NOT with what man may or may not have done. Paul is clear that God has broke down the middle wall of separation which accomplished the unity long ago.
DeleteHi Ross,
DeleteLook at this passage: Eph 4:11-16 ESV And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, (12) to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, (13) until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, (14) so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. (15) Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, (16) from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
It appears to me that unity is a lot more than tearing down the wall of separation.
It is really very simple. What Paul is referring to is this:
ReplyDelete14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one vnew man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might wreconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby xputting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For ythrough Him we both have access zby one Spirit to the Father.
The New King James Version. 1982 (Eph 2:14–18).
It has been accomplished for us already. Christ established the unity between Jew and Gentile within the Body. Attaining it is a matter of recognizing the truth and living accordingly. That entails little more than not thinking one is better than the other.