Do We Have Apostles Or Their Successors on Earth Today?
By Randy Blackaby

The Mormons claim to continuously have twelve apostles ruling over them. A growing number of Protestant groups claim that modem missionaries have picked up the mantle of the apostles. And the Catholic Church has long held that its bishops, particularly the head bishop--the Pope--are successors in authority to the apostle Peter.

It also is not uncommon, for a couple of reasons, for serious Bible students to wonder about the existence of modem apostles.

While the larger question of whether apostles like Peter and John and Paul exist today needs a comprehensive answer, the questions raised by the mere definition of apostle and the designation of a few men not normally thought of as apostles can be addressed concisely.

The answer lies in how we use language. Sometimes, we use it in a very general way. At other times, we use it in a more specific manner.

In a very general sense, perhaps every Christian who carries out any part of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16) could be called an apostle; i.e., "one sent forth." And it seems necessary that we understand the designation, in this sense, of Barnabas and others as apostles.

The word deacon presents a similar general-versus-specific-usage question. Generally, the word speaks of one who is merely a servant. Jesus was a servant, and all Christians are to be God's servants. But in 1 Timothy 3:8-13, Paul laid down very specific qualifications for the special office or work of a deacon in the church. Not every Christian meets the specific qualifications for this office. Paul described the Christian sister Phoebe as a servant or deaconess of the church in Cenchrea (Romans 16:1). Even so, she was such only in the general sense because her gender and lack of experience as head of a home would forbid her holding the specific office of deacon in the church.

Lest anyone imagine this to be over-zealous parsing, let us recognize that there are many words we use every day in both specific and general ways, and context must determine which is in view. An auditor, in the most general sense, is one who hears or listens. But, in more specific uses, the word may refer to a person who listens to all the lectures in a college class but doesn't get credit; or it may refer to a city or county office--an elected record keeper.

Do we have apostles like the twelve and Paul today?

The necessity to understand the office of apostle as very specific becomes apparent when we examine the qualifications of the Lord's personally chosen apostles and the uniqueness of their work.

Observe that Jesus hand-picked the original twelve, as well as Paul (Matthew 10:1-5; Acts 9:15; 22:14-15). After Judas killed himself, divine guidance was employed during the choice of his replacement (Acts 1:16-26). No one today can claim to have been selected in the manner these men were.

The qualifications set forth in Acts 1 also negate the possibility of modern-day apostles. To be qualified to hold the position Judas held, a man was required to:

Again, we must note that no one today can legitimately claim to have seen the Lord and been a real eyewitness of His resurrection. People today sometimes talk about witnessing for the Lord, but unlike the apostles, they did not see Him alive after His resurrection. Today, we can do nothing but testify to our faith in that resurrection (2 Corinthians 5:7). Paul said Jesus was last seen by him (1 Corinthians 15:8).

Jesus' chosen apostles also had the unique ability to work miracles in Jesus' name and to confer this ability on others by laying their hands on them (Mark 16:17-20; Acts 2:43; 5:12; 8:14-18; 19:6; Hebrews 2:3-4). While some today claim to work miracles, the validity of their claims is questionable, and the nature of what they claim falls far short of what Scripture declares the apostles did.

The apostles were able to speak God's will authoritatively, without study, because they received direct assistance from the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised them this before He died (John 14:16-18, 26; 16:13). After remaining in Jerusalem as Jesus instructed them (Luke 24:49), they received these powers on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2). Again, some men today claim to receive direct inspiration from God, but the conflicts between what they teach and what the Bible reveals make their claims suspect.

The apostles' work was temporary.

The apostles had two primary tasks.

  1. To introduce and establish the Lord's church by preaching the gospel throughout the world (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16). This began in Jerusalem on Pentecost (Acts 2) and was completed for that generation during the era in which Paul lived (Colossians 1:23).

  2. The apostles also were largely responsible for making Christ's covenant universally available to mankind. They began this effort with oral preaching and played major roles in the production of its codified form (1 Corinthians 14:37; Ephesians 3:3-4; 2 Peter 1:12-21).

When all of God's revelation to man was complete, the Holy Spirit's miraculous revelation and confirmation work was to end (1 Corinthians 13:9-13). Jude 3 declares that "the faith" was "once for all delivered to the saints." This statement rules out continuing, or modern-day, revelations and even the need for this aspect of the apostles' work.

Having this understanding, the apostle Paul wrote that the household of God--the church--was "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone" (Ephesians 2:19-22). The highly figurative book of Revelation makes the same foundational point in 21:14.

This foundation language speaks of the church figuratively, as though it were a building. The builder lays the building's foundation first. Other workers then build upon it. Again, this language demonstrates the temporary work of, and need for, the apostles.

The Bible speaks of false apostles.

In 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, Scripture speaks of "false apostles." They are called deceitful workers who transform themselves into apostles of Christ, just like Satan transforms himself into an angel of light.

The Ephesus church was commended for testing those who claimed to be apostles and determining that their claims were untrue (Revelation 2:2). The test seems clear. Paul warned, "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:8)

Catholic appeal for apostolic succession isn't based on Scripture.

The Catholic Church claims its bishops, and particularly their primate, bears the apostle Peter's authority through succession of that authority. But they make no real appeal to Scripture to prove it; the Bible is silent regarding the apostles' authority being handed down to successive men through the centuries.

The Catholic Encyclopedia says, "We may conclude with confidence that, about the end of the second century, the ministers of the church were everywhere regarded as legitimate successors of the apostles; this common persuasion is of primary importance."

Notice that this source suggests we place our confidence in what second-century people "regarded" and was the "common persuasion." It would not be difficult to produce many examples of things commonly believed today that are in conflict with God's word. Apostolic succession is but one of these examples.

If we rely only on Scripture, we must conclude that the apostles were a small, select group that completed its work and existence during the first century of the church's existence.

Randy has done a good job of discussing whether or not we still have apostles in our own time. In fact, the church does still have the apostles! "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." (Ephesians 4:11-13) Brother Blackaby is correct in stating that the apostles appointed by the Lord were chosen for a specific work during a specific time period. But we do still have their words and their works to help guide us so we can be pleasing to God in the day and time during which we live.

I believe there are two reasons why some in the religious world want to believe in apostolic succession.

  1. It would help them prove that they can change God's word. If we had modern-day apostles, guided by the Holy Spirit, their words would come from a Divine source and therefore have Divine authority behind them. This is where those who want latter-day revelation go for authorization and proof that the things they teach, that are not found in the Spirit-given word, carry equal weight with what is in Scripture. This is wishful thinking. Please read John 16:13.

  2. Those who claim they have the Holy Spirit today need to prove apostolic succession so they can perform miracles as the apostles did. The Bible clearly teaches that the apostles passed these gifts on to men by the "laying on" of their hands (Acts 8:14-16). Conclusion: if we have apostles today, they have the power to pass on spiritual gifts and perform miracles. Such thinking completely violates 1 Corinthians 13:8-10 and Hebrews 2:3,4.

The apostles and those on whom they laid hands performed miracles to confirm that the word they preached was of Divine origin. According to Paul (1 Corinthians 14), a miracle served as a sign to an unbeliever. Men today cannot perform miracles; nor can they authorize other men to do so. Paul warned us about false apostles, and they are alive and well in our own time! (KMG)


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