1 Corinthians 9:5). They recognized him as the Christ of God, ( Matthew 16:16 ; Luke 9:20 ) and described to him supernatural power ( Luke 9:54 ) but in the recognition of the spiritual teaching and mission of Christ they made very low progress, held back as they were by weakness of apprehension and by national prejudices. His encounter with the resurrected Jesus served as the basis for his unique claim to be an "apostle to the Gentiles" ( Rom 11:13 ). Thus, all apostleship finds its meaning in Jesus the Apostle, sent by God to be the Savior of the world ( 1 Jo 4:14 ). We have four lists of the apostles, one by each of the synoptic evangelists ( Matthew 10:2-4 ; Mark 3:16 ; Luke 6:14 ), and one in the ( Acts 1:13 ). They were regarded as the "pillars" ( Gal 2:9 ) and "foundation" ( Eph 2:20 ; cf. It was on the foundation of the apostles and prophets that the Christian church was built, with Jesus Christ Himself as the chief corner-stone (Ephesians 2:20). It was essential that they should be infallibly inspired, and thus protected against error and mistake in their public teaching, whether by word or by writing (John 14:26; 16:13; 1 Thess. It was characteristic of the apostles and necessary (1) that they should have seen the Lord, and been able to testify of him and of his resurrection from personal knowledge ( John 15:27 ; Acts 1:21 Acts 1:22 ; 1 Corinthians 9:1 ; Acts 22:14 Acts 22:15 ). There were great differences, no doubt, among the apostles of the primitive church, as there were among the Twelve themselves--differences due to natural talents, to personal acquirements and experience, to spiritual gifts. Bible Dictionaries - Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Apostle, Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Bible Dictionaries - Easton's Bible Dictionary - Apostle, Bible Dictionaries - King James Dictionary - Apostle, Bible Dictionaries - Smith's Bible Dictionary - Apostle, Encyclopedias - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Apostle, California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information, They must have been immediately called to that office by Christ (, It was essential that they should be infallibly inspired, and thus secured against all error and mistake in their public teaching, whether by word or by writing (, Another qualification was the power of working miracles (. He is an apostle, "not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead" ( Gal 1:1 ). The authority of the apostolate was of a spiritual, ethical and personal kind. 287-303. He is the author "Hope for Hurting Singles: A Christian Guide to Overcoming Life's Challenges. (The "twelve apostles" of Revelation 21:14 is evidently symbolic; compare in 7:3 the restriction of God's sealed servants to the twelve tribes.) The Twelve Jesus had a large number of disciples during his ministry, but not all of them were apostles. The Twelve had intimate knowledge of his life, and a wider group had been witnesses to his resurrection. In 2 Corinthians 8:23 and Philippians 2:25 the word "messenger" is the rendering of the same Greek word, elsewhere rendered "apostle." He had said that they were to be His witnesses not only in Jerusalem and Judea, but in Samaria (contrast Matthew 10:5), and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8). The passages on which it has been sought to establish his right to be included in the apostolate do not furnish any satisfactory evidence. He had not been a disciple of Jesus in the days of His flesh; his claim to have seen the risen Lord and from Him to have received a personal commission was not one that could be proved to others; but there could be no possibility of doubt as to the seals of his apostleship. When the question of the observance of the Mosaic ritual by GentileChristians arose at Antioch and was referred to Jerusalem, it was "the apostles and elders" who met to discuss it (Acts 15:2,6,22), and the letter returned to Antioch was written in the name of "the apostles and the elders, brethren" (Acts 15:23). Who Were the 12 Disciples (Apostles) & What We Know about Them "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". Early in our Lords ministry he sent them out two and two to preach repentance and to perform miracles in his name Matt 10; Luke 9. Here ends the first period of the apostles agency, during which its centre is Jerusalem and the prominent figure is that of St. Peter. More common is the verb apostello, referring to the sending of a fleet or an embassy. It seems unlikely, however, that either of these uses bears upon the Christian origin of a term which, in any case, came to have its own distinctive Christian meaning. Not only does Acts depict Paul as manifesting the signs of an apostle, but in its three accounts of the Damascus Road encounter, his apostolic task is presented as the direct action of the risen Christ (9:3-5; 22:6-8; 26:12-18; cf. An apostle of Jesus Christ is a messenger sent to spread the, The apostles of Jesus Christ were sometimes referred to as "The Twelve. a-pos'-l ([ @apostolos], literally, "one sent forth," an envoy, missionary): For the meaning of this name as it meets us in the New Testament, reference is sometimes made to classical and Jewish parallels. Luke, however, frequently and almost exclusively calls the Twelve "apostles" ( 6:13 ; 9:10 ; 17:5 ; 22:14 ; 24:10 ; Acts 1:26 ; 2:43 ; Acts 4:35 Acts 4:36 Acts 4:37 ; Acts 5:2 Acts 5:12 Acts 5:18 ; 8:1 ). (Gk. Background and usage.. 1. The deposit of revelation transmitted by the apostles and preserved in its written form in the New Testament thus forms the basis of postapostolic preaching and teaching in the church. Luke 5:10. and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Luke, it is true, uses the word as a title for the Twelve apart from reference to the mission among the villages. His apostolic commission is to serve God primarily through preaching the gospel ( Rom 1:9 ; 15:19 ; 1 Col 1:17 ). Christ the Apostle Although there is only one explicit reference to Jesus as an apostle ( Heb 3:1 ), implicit references to his having been "sent" by the Father are found throughout the New Testament. The office of an apostle is one Jesus instituted and only He can appoint those who hold the office. Josephus employs it once (Antiquities17.11.1) in the classical sense of an embassy. Acts 14:4 Acts 14:14 ), and possibly others ( Ro 16:7 ). Barnabas was sent forth (exapostello is the verb used) by the church at Jerusalem (Acts 11:22) and later, along with Paul, by the church at Antioch (Acts 13:1); and soon after this we find the two men described as apostles (Acts 14:4). 2 Corinthians 12:12 ESV / 67 helpful votes. Their first mission out of Jerusalem was to Samaria ( Acts 8:5-25 ) where the Lord himself had, during his ministry, sown the seed of the gospel. When we pass to Acts, "apostles" has become an ordinary name for the Eleven (Acts 1:2,26), and after the election of Matthias in place of Judas, for the Twelve (2:37,42,43, etc.). In addition, in 1 Corinthians 15:7 it mentions “all the apostles” allowing room for other unnamed apostles. Such signs and wonders, however, were clearly secondary to the apostolic functions of preaching and teaching. Bibliography Information Apostle definition is - one sent on a mission: such as. St. Paul the Apostle, original name Saul of Tarsus, (born 4 bce ?, Tarsus in Cilicia [now in Turkey]—died c. 62–64 ce, Rome [Italy]), one of the leaders of the first generation of Christians, often considered to be the most important person after Jesus in the history of Christianity. And when his right to it was challenged, he defended that right with passion, and especially on these grounds: that he had seen Jesus, and so was qualified to bear witness to His resurrection (1 Corinthians 9:1; compare Acts 22:6); that he had received a call to the work of an apostle (Romans 1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:1, etc. Thereafter, they are referred to as apostles: Jesus assigned these men specific duties before his crucifixion, but it was only after his resurrection—when their discipleship had been completed—that he appointed them fully as apostles. And when this particular mission was completed and they returned to Antioch to rehearse before the assembled church "all things that God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith unto the Gentiles" (Acts 14:27), they thereby justified their claim to be the apostles not only of the church, but of the Holy Spirit. Their office. The New Testament highlights their function as apostles, without delineating in detail the authoritative nature of their office in relation to the church. James is considered here, and in Galatians 1:19, to be an apostle. In the case of Matthias, additional qualifications come to light. B. Lightfoot, Galatians, pp. That Andronicus and Junia were "of note among the apostles," that is, distinguished apostles. Derived from the verb ἀποστέλλω, G690, to send, it often means a “ship,” “fleet,” “naval expedition” or “naval commander,” but rarely “a person sent.”. Earliest testimony to the mission on which it has been associated with your Salem All-Pass account, click... ; Eph 1:1 ; 2 Tim 1:1 ; Eph 1:1 ; 1 Tim 1:1 ; 1:1! Seems to include more than the act of sending, this word the... Such signs and wonders, however, that he considered himself to be an apostle Christs charge them... Overcoming Life 's Challenges James is considered here, and their teaching became norm! 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