In the Charismatic movement we are hearing about the emergence of those who are calling themselves apostles. I have read some books that give what they are presenting as Scriptural evidence that there are apostles in the church today. It seems that when a guy is called an apostle, or advertises himself as one, people tend to take his teaching more seriously than a run-in-the mill Bible teacher. But there is a question: These apostles seem to be limited to the Charismatic movement, and generally not recognised by the wide range of Evangelical churches.
The Apostolic church of New Zealand, which is a Pentecostal denomination, claims to be rule by twelve apostles. The head rooster of the church, when challenged by a member retorted, "You can't speak to me like that. I'm an apostle!" So, what does that tell us?
To consider the question we need to examine what the Scriptural qualifications of an apostle really are. We know that the Apostles of Christ had strict qualifications that prevent anyone being able to claim that form of Apostleship today. They must have been personally appointed by the risen Christ, and that included Paul who was appointed by Christ on the Damascus Road. They had to be recognised by the full body of Christ, which was true in the 1st Century because the church was one with no divisions in it. They had to go into all the world and preach the Gospel of Christ, which they did. And their ministry had to be validated by signs and wonders. No one after the death of the Apostle John could have been appointed as an Apostle of Christ.
But there were apostles of the church, such as Barnabas and Silas, who were recognised as such by the church. Here were their qualifications:
1. They had to be appointed by the Holy Spirit: "Separate unto Me Barnabas and Paul for the ministry I have called them." The appointment came through a prophetic word that was attested by the whole group of prophets and teachers at Antioch. They all heard from the Holy Spirit at the one time and knew beyond doubt that Paul and Barnabas were called to the apostolic ministry. Later on Silas was also called. Paul would not have accepted Silas unless the Holy Spirit made it very clear.
2. They had to be accepted as apostles by the whole church. In today's church with all its division into different denominations, the ministry of apostle is well-nigh impossible because even if the ministry is accepted by one denominational group, it may not be recognised by others who are also part of the body of Christ. The senior pastor of the Apostolic Church may be the head of that church but he is certainly not an apostle because his ministry is not recognised even by other Pentecostal churches, let alone the Evangelicals. The same applies for those who call themselves "third wave" apostles. They are not recognised by the full body of Christ therefore they cannot be true apostles.
3. Scriptural apostles go into all the world with the Gospel of Christ. Many of these Charismatic "third wave" apostles do most of their ministry to church goers and not into the secular pagan world, and the bulk of their teaching is not the Gospel of Christ.
4. Scriptural apostleship must always be validated by signs and wonders. Therefore sick and disabled people must be healed on a regular basis as the outcome of their ministry of the Gospel of Christ. If they pray for a person in a wheelchair, that person comes out of the wheelchair and walks; a blind person receives their sight; a cancer patient's tumour disappears; arthritic joints are restored; heart failure is healed. If these things don't happen on a regular basis, then the person may be a good Bible teacher, but not an apostle.
Anyone can call himself an apostle, but the reality is that he has to be one according to the four qualifications that I have stated.
Actually, John Calvin at the start of his commentary of 1st Corinthians, gives an excellent description of who an apostle actually is.
