It is truly amazing how in today’s world of Christendom there is so much controversy and division. We have one group saying, doing and believing one thing, while the group down the way, believes something all together different. But both groups are claiming to be serving the one and the same God, reading the one and the same Bible and striving for the same goal. How can this be possible?
One group believes that the gifts of the Spirit are no longer available while the other group believes that the gifts are very much a part of the church of today. One group believes that only men can be ministers of the gospel while the other believes that God can use any gender to spread His word.
One group believes that baptism should be in Jesus name only while the other believes that baptism should be in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost. One group believes that all miracles ceased at the death of John and the other believes that miracles can and do still happen.
One group believes that all apostles and prophets ceased at the end of the first century while the other believes that there are still Apostles and Prophets today. But they both believe in Evangelist Pastors and Teachers. Strange how one group reading the same verse out of the same Bible can believe that three of those mentioned in that verse are still around but two of them have ceased to exist, things that make you go Hum!!
But in the same token, they both believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, that He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life was crucified on a cross on Mount Calvary, was buried in a borrowed tomb and on the third day arose. They both believe that he declared all power in heaven and on earth was given to Him. They both believe that He was bodily ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father with the promise to return on a future date for His church without spot or wrinkle.
Now the amazing thing is how can there be so much division and dissention among those who are to be spreading the Good News of the gospel to a lost and dying generation when those who are doing the spreading cannot come together on the message they are spreading? The end result then becomes not conversion to the Gospel but confusion. They are not making converts to the gospel of Jesus Christ and bringing those who are lost back into reconciliation to God but rather they are making converts to their own belief systems.
There are many from all denominations at this time preaching and teaching that the Lord Jesus is soon to return, which in all probability may be true, but will He find a church without spot or wrinkle among those who are professing and confessing to be spreading the gospel?
In this article I will address the issue of Are there or aren’t there Apostles and Prophets today? I am not going to try to argue this point from my own personal beliefs or from a preconceived notion from some prior teaching instead I am going to the source, the Bible and find out what it says exactly in Ephesians chapter 4 verses 11 through 13.
Now the Bible (the same one used by both groups) declares in Ephesians 4:11-13
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (KJV, emphasis added)
To put that in plain English (for those who don’t believe that King James Version is the only true version of God’s word), we will state those verses from the English Standard Version (ESV) and once again the emphasis is added.
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Those verses from just a casual reading, seem to say that the Apostles Prophets Evangelist Pastors and Teacher are to be in operation until we all Come Into Unity of the Faith. But looking around us there is not much UNITY. It would seem from reading those passages then that until that happens there will be Apostles Prophets Evangelist Pastors and Teachers.
But let’s go still a little further and find out from the original language what that verse was truly saying to the people of that time,then maybe we will find out and understand if certain positions or offices (where ever your belief system lies) have been eradicated or done away with from that one verse. Warning: If the Apostle an Prophet are no longer a part of the church then the Evangelist Pastor and Teacher have also ceased to exist since they are all referenced to in the same verse. Let’s go.
I admit if you are unfamiliar with the Greek Language of the first Century,attempting to read it in its original Greek alphabet would be very difficult. So let’s do a little translation.
Ephesians 4:
V. 11 from the Greek Text (Greek word translation in parenthesis)
He (Christ) gave (set) some (this), Apostles (sent ambassadors of the gospel with miraculous powers), some (this) prophets (inspired foretelling speakers), some (this) evangelist (preachers of the gospel), some (this) pastors (shepherds of the flock) and (also) teachers (instructors).
V. 12
For the perfecting (complete furnishing) of the saints (consecrated, holy ones, church) for the work (labour) of the ministry (service to) for the edifying (building) of the body (a sound wholeness) of Christ (the anointed Messiah)
V. 13
Till (up to the point) we all come in the unity (oneness to) of the faith (reliance upon Christ; the anointed Messiah) and the knowledge (full discernment) of the Son of God, unto a perfect man (ultimate completeness) unto the measure (degree) of the stature (maturity) of the fulness (complete filling up) of Christ (the anointed Messiah).
With the above breakdown, the original Greek text would basically read in this manner:
Christ set this, ambassadors of the gospel with miraculous powers (Apostles); this, inspired foretelling speakers (Prophets); this, preachers of the gospel ( Evangelist); this, shepherds of the flock ( Pastors) and instructors (teachers), for the complete furnishing of the Church (Saints), for the labor of service to the building of a sound wholeness of the anointed Messiah. Up to the point we all come in the oneness of the reliance upon the anointed Messiah and the full discernment of the Son of God unto a ultimate completeness, unto the degree of maturity of the complete filling of the anointed Messiah.
So to look at those verses it is plan from two English speaking translations and the original Greek language that Apostles, Prophets, Evangelist, Pastors and teachers were set into the Church by Christ to completely furnish the church with all things necessary to do the labor involved in building up a sound wholesomeness of the Messiah. That they were to remain until we all came into oneness and reliance on the anointed one. Until we all had a full understanding of the Son of God and obtained ultimate completeness and the full degree of maturity to receive and understand the fullness of Christ.
After reading the above breakdown and study, it is now up to you to decide if Apostles and Prophets are still an important component of the Church. It is up to you to decide how two of the five positions can no longer be in operation and the other three remain when there is no reference in that scripture to the doing away with any of them. I hope that this has helped someone to see how sometimes it is hard to interrupt the scripture, without first obtaining a clear understanding not just a casual reading, and helped others to get a better understanding to five of the important components of the Church and the way Jesus formed it.
