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Are
There Apostles Today?
Some churches today say they have apostles like in Bible times. But for the following three (3) reasons, people who believe in the Bible reject such claims and claimants as “FALSE apostles, deceitful workers” (2 Corinthians 11:13).
No. 1: the apostles in Bible times proved their apostleship BY miracles (2 Corinthians 12:12). They healed ALL manner of maladies (Acts 5:12-16), gave miraculous powers to new converts (Acts 8:18), raised the dead (Acts 9:36-40) and struck the wicked opposition with blindness (Acts 13:8-11). And all this they did, EVEN in the presence of UNbelievers, to prove their message was from God. What claimants to apostleship ARE DOING the same today? No one.
No. 2: The work of an apostle in Bible times was to reveal, by the Spirit’s direction, the undisclosed will of God to mankind (Ephesians 3:3-5) and gave eyewitness testimony to the resurrection of Christ (Luke 24:46-48; Acts 2:32; 26:16). But that work was completed in Bible times because the Spirit had guided the apostles into “ALL truth” (John 16:13). And that truth, with the eyewitness testimony, IS recorded in the Scriptures ONCE for all to read for faith and obedience (Ephesians 3:3-5; 1 Corinthians 15:1-3; John 20:30-31; Jude 3). Thus, those who claim to be and need apostles today show their disbelief in the Bible.
No. 3: To qualify as an apostle in Bible ties one HAD to (a) personally see the resurrected Christ (Acts 1:22; 22:14; 1 Corinthians 9:1); (b) be personally selected to apostleship by Christ (Luke 6:13; Acts 1:15-26; 26:15-16; Galatians 1:1); and (c) receive Spirit baptism from Christ (Acts 1:2-5; 9:17). No one today can meet these qualifications because the BIBLE says Christ appeared to and selected Paul to apostleship “last of all” (1 Corinthians 15:8), and Spirit baptism is no more because the Bible says there is now “one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5); i.e., water baptism for salvation (Mark 16:15-16; Acts 10:48; 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21).
If you worship with a church that claims to have living apostles, then ASK YOUR PREACHER why he isn’t encouraging the church to do what the Lord Jesus commended the church at Ephesus for doing: “I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them to be liars” (Revelation 2:2).
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