Do We Have Apostles and Prophets Today?

There are some today who claim to be Apostles but they don't meet the criteria set out in Acts 1:15-22 where it says that an Apostle must be someone who was around from the time of John's baptism to Jesus' ascension.  Also, who can honestly say that they have the mark of an Apostle which is signs, wonders and miracles (2 Cor. 12:12)?  Today, these criteria are ignored and people turn to Ephisians 4 for support but there is no support there when this passage is correctly interpreted.

Eph. 4:11-15 talks about Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers.  Apostles and Prophets were particularly special in the early church because God gave them great power and knowledge to establish the church.  They established the church and passed their knowledge on to us in their letters to their churches.  These letters (now part of the New Testament) replaced the need for Apostles and Prophets but of course Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers are still with us today.  A close look at Eph. 4:11-15 shows this:

Eph.4:11-12 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up [From these verses we see that God used these men to build the church up.  During those times there was no New Testament, however, the Apostles and Prophets were 'living New Testaments' who taught the infant church and put their God-given knowledge and prophecy into writing which circulated throughout the churches and eventually became part of the Bible.  These men taught with the knowledge they had received directly from God.  The next verse starts with the word 'until' which puts a limit on the time of the work of the fivefold ministry.]

Eph 4:13 UNTIL we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  [The words "until we all reach unity...and become mature" tell us that the fivefold ministry of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers had a time limit and would only be needed until the early church was united and mature.  The next verse starts with 'then' and gives the result of the church coming to maturity.]

Eph. 4:14 THEN we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming [The 'then' in this verse tells us that then (that is, when the church was established and mature) they would no longer be tossed back and forth by false doctrines but would be solid in their faith.  It goes without saying that the early church did reach the point of maturity.  Now, note the word 'instead' which starts the next verse.]

Eph. 4:15 INSTEAD, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.   ['Instead' tells us that, instead of being tossed around by various false doctrines, the mature, early church would reach a point where it would be solid in Christ.  To say this never happened is absurd, to say the least.]

Some argue that we still need Apostles and Prophets because the church has not yet reached maturity and unity and that we have to wait for Jesus to return for that to happen.  However, by saying this they miss the point that the early church is in view here and it most certainly reached maturity and unity in the faith.  If we say that the early church never reached such a state then we are saying that, even under the powerful leadership of the Apostles, they remained immature infants in Christ and were tossed back and forth by false doctrine.  It is also nonsensical to say that "until we all reach unity" refers to the time of Jesus' return as the passage would then be saying, "We will have the fivefold ministry UNTIL Jesus returns when we will all unite and be mature and THEN we will no longer be tossed back and forth by false doctrines but INSTEAD we will grow into Him".  The fact is, we mature as we walk with Jesus and rather than "growing into Him" when He returns we will be immediately changed into His likeness.

Eph. 2:19-20 tells us that the church was built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets and the Bible doesn't mention successors for these ministries.  Since the foundation has already been laid, their special ministry is no longer needed.  The knowledge and prophecy they received from God has been passed onto us in the New Testament letters and now churches come to maturity through the Bible and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  There is simply no need to have a continuing line of these unique men [or women].  God gave them special power to establish the church initially and now the Bible contains the knowledge and prophecy that we need to build churches on the foundation that has already been laid.  The passage 1 Cor. 13:8-13 confirms that the completed Bible would be the end of prophecy and knowledge.  In 1 Cor. 13:11 Paul talks about putting away the 'childish' gifts of tongues, prophecy and knowledge and this is because they were only needed in the 'infant' church of His time. (Mick Alexander)