To: Dr. Eckleburg
The office of Apostle is not a continuing office in the Church! To be an Apostle it was required to be a witness of the resurrected Christ as we see in Acts 1:22 also reflected in Pauls defense of his Apostolic credentials in I Corinthians 9:1. Moreover, it was required that you be personally commissioned by the Lord Himself which is what Paul claims in Galatians 1:1, that He is an Apostle not by the Word of men but by revelation of Jesus Christ! The Apostles were those who were witnesses of the resurrected Christ and personally commissioned by Him. And thus the Apostolic office was restricted to the first generation of the Church. Paul considered Himself the least (perhaps translated the last) of the Apostles in I Corinthians 15. And Pauls personal successor Timothy is never given that title in the New Testament. And so in the very nature of the case, Apostolic revelation did not extend beyond the Apostolic generation. It never extended beyond the foundational days of the Church! Ephesians 2:20 says the Church is founded upon the Apostles and Prophets, Christ being the chief cornerstone. And beyond the foundational days of the Church, the foundation-laying days of the Church, there is no Apostolic revelation. And thats why when you look at Jude (the 3rd verse) you see the author in his own day when Apostolic instruction was still current by the way Jude in his own day could speak of the faith as once for all delivered unto the saints. The faith here is the teaching content of the Christian faith! It is that dogma (if you will), that truth given by the Apostles through the Revelation of the Father, Son, and Spirit. Jude says the faith has once for all been delivered unto the saints. This is an excellent point. The Apostles had Jesus's Power of Attorney, so to speak, and a Power of Attorney cannot pe passed on by one who has been granted it. And neither can an Apostle.
To: Uncle Chip
Many modern folks have seen The Risen Lord as Paul did.
And, PERHAPS some have walked, do walk in such an anointing. I'm still pondering that issue. I certainly don't think that everyone who places "Apostle" on their business card is an Apostle. I think the word has been exceedingly watered down in the modern era.
848 posted on
10/23/2006 8:04:41 AM PDT by
Quix
(LET GOD ARISE AND HIS ENEMIES BE SCATTERED. LET ISRAEL CALL ON GOD AS THEIRS! & ISLAM FLUSH ITSELF)
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