Foundational Apostles and Prophets: The sign of an apostle and prophet for the New Covenant

Eph 2:20 NET  "because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone."

According to Paul, the apostles and prophets were foundational to the faith. In fact, in another place in Ephesians Paul stated that the purpose of foundational apostles and prophets would be there UNTIL "until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God – a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ’s full stature." Eph 4:13 NET. There is little unity of the faith.

Based on this there needs to be a renewal of foundational apostles and prophets. I know, there are already many on the scene today. I question however that they are functioning as foundational. It seems to me that most modern day apostles and prophets are hung up on signs, wonders and manifestations rather than the foundational gospel that was the source of all the power. Paul said that he was not ashamed of the gospel as it was God's dynamite... dunamis. Yes, dunamis is the Greek word that we get dynamite from.

He says that in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. Hmmn, have you not wondered what from faith to faith means? Well, I believe the Spirit has illuminated that for me. Paul said in Galatians 2:16 that we are justified by the faith/faithfulness of Jesus Christ. So the righteousness of God is revealed by the faith OF Jesus and we then apprehend the faith of Jesus by the measure of faith given to us by the Holy Spirit upon hearing the gospel of grace. That explains from faith to faith.

Back to foundational apostles and prophets. Acts 14:3 explains that the purpose of the signs and wonders was to establish the truthfulness of the gospel of grace. "So they stayed there for a considerable time, speaking out courageously for the Lord, who testified to the message of his grace, granting miraculous signs and wonders to be performed through their hands." (Acts 14:3.) It is interesting that so few of the modern day apostles and prophets place any emphasis at all on the gospel of grace much less, have it be foundational.

Yes, the sign of a foundational apostle or prophet is a strong commitment to the gospel of grace. Paul explained in 1 Cor 2:2 that he was determined to know nothing among the Corinthians except Jesus Christ crucified, the gospel of grace. There is a very good reason for this. It is the gospel of grace that is transformative. A foundational apostle or prophet should know this. Here is how the first century apostles understood the gospel and how the Holy Spirit used it to transform people into loving individuals. The gospel explains that because of the faith of Jesus Christ humanity is justified. This fact, if believed, creates peace with the Father. Peace with the Father translates into genuine love for the Father. Genuine love for the Father creates a desire to please the Father.

It must be clearly stated however that a person has to hear the gospel often to keep the mindset of peace with the Father. They have to be assured that they are justified by the faith of Jesus. Furthermore, this justification must always be apart from the law or law obedience. The foundational prophets and apostles of the first century church understood this and taught it to the rest of the members of the ecclesia. There are several verses in the New Testament that explains that the apostles and prophets taught in word as well as by letter. When letters were written, they were always prompted by a specific occasion. In other words they were occasional, and it is often difficult to extrapolate what the occasion was. It is important to realize that we have the letters but are missing the oral teaching of the apostles which was much greater in detail and volume. However, we can only know the oral teaching with the help of the indwelling spirit of Christ.

Therefore, foundational apostles and prophets always would be explaining how the gospel of grace operates. You can see a practical explanation of how this works in Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter seven. He explains why the letter of law kills the spiritual life brought forth by the gospel of grace. He explains why one cannot really focus on living according to the law. He says that it is sin that exists in the flesh and that the law arouses the flesh. Therefore, the gospel works to control sin in the flesh by putting the focus on peace with Father God. This focus is what it means to be spiritually minded. Spiritually minded is not the mind focused on the law of sin and death. This is precisely why Paul determined to know nothing but the gospel of grace when he was with the Corinthians. So again, the emphasis of the gospel is the mark of a foundational apostle and prophet.

Yet, so many modern day apostles and prophets seem to fear grace. They emphasize the idea that a focus on grace can give people a license to sin. Nothing could be farther from the truth. People do not need a license to sin. They were born with it. In fact, the only way to overcome the inborn sin is to renew the mind to the spiritual focus of the gospel of grace.

In the next post I will focus on foundational prophets.