Based on a discussion in another thread, I wanted to open a new thread to discuss the concept of the existence of modern day apostles and prophets. In my view, such roles do not exist today. I am not a cessationist, but I do believe gifts have particular functions in the life of the people of God, and it does not seem to me that those gifts are currently needed, but fulfilled a particular role in the past. I would like to explore those roles and the Scriptures that indicate that these offices had a temporary role in the life of the church.
First, I think it is important to define the term "apostle" and "prophet" as the NT defines these terms. This is where I find most of the problems arise in these discussions.
APOSTLES
An apostle is a "sent one." That is what the term means. It implies that someone has been specifically sent from another to proclaim a message or perform a task. We see that the Apostle Paul almost always speaks of his appointment to this special position by God as he introduces himself in his letters. For instance,
Furthermore, the office of Apostles no longer exists because they were used to build the "foundation" of the church (Eph. 2:20). Anyone who has ever built something recognizes that you can continually add on to the structure, but you only build the foundation once. The foundation of the Gospel and the church has been laid by the appointed and chosen Apostles. There is no need for a new or added foundation. An apostle is one who was specifically chosen by Jesus Christ and audibly commanded to proclaim the hidden message of the Gospel to both Jews and Gentiles. These people were given miraculous gifts to confirm the message they had been appointed to give and all suffered immensely as part of their message and testimony.
This leads us to discuss the role of the prophet.
PROPHETS
What is a prophet and how should we define them? In my view, the role of the prophet is not much different than that of the Apostle. Most who think of prophets will think of the ability to foretell future events. Certainly, this is a characteristic of many prophets. However, their primary function was to forth-tell the message of God to a group of people. Sometimes these messages included future predictions (usually of judgment if they people did not repent), but not always. What is clear to me in the OT definitions of prophets is that they received direct revelation from God to proclaim to a group of people.
For instance, Samuel heard the voice of God. It was so clear that he mistook it for Eli calling him (1 Sam. 3:4). These individuals had visions and dreams where they received words directly from the Lord to proclaim to the people. In fact, this is how prophets are defined. They hear directly from God in a very clear way.
Why are these roles not functioning today?
I believe these roles are not functioning today because they are no longer needed. Both of these gifts were foundational for the church (see again Eph. 2:20). In the NT, the focus of the gift of prophecy is the revelation of Jesus (Rev. 19:10). The Apostles and prophets functioned in similar manner in the NT. That role was to get the revelation of Jesus to the people. I believe Apostles were specificially chosen men who followed Jesus during his earthly ministry and witnessed his resurrection. They were appointed for the ministry of sharing his message to the world. Paul was "untimely born" as one of these unique messengers to share the "mystery of the Gospel" that he received through direct revelation and was appointed to share it with the Gentiles.
Prophets were also foundational in the NT. In the absence of the Bible, many young churches did not have any authority or revelation to base their faith upon. There were only a handful of Apostles and if they ever did visit a church, usually it was either to start church or was just a short visit to encourage and build up the believers in that city. Prophets were gifts given to the early church to give supernatural revelation of Gods' message, similar to what we have in our NTs today. Now that the Gospel has been fully proclaimed and the message of God in Jesus fully revealed and available in the NT Scriptures, there is no need for further new revelation or messages from God. The message has been revealed, the Gospel has been proclaimed and the foundation of the church has been set. I believe the NT even indicates that these gifts would not be functioning throughout the life of the church.
First, I think it is important to define the term "apostle" and "prophet" as the NT defines these terms. This is where I find most of the problems arise in these discussions.
APOSTLES
An apostle is a "sent one." That is what the term means. It implies that someone has been specifically sent from another to proclaim a message or perform a task. We see that the Apostle Paul almost always speaks of his appointment to this special position by God as he introduces himself in his letters. For instance,
We see in Acts 9 how Paul was "chosen" and appointed. Jesus appeared to Paul and gave him a specific task: the task of preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles. Paul recognized that his position as an Apostle is unique and that the way he became an Apostle was unusual. Why was it unusual? Because he did not follow Jesus during his earthly ministry.“Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—” (Galatians 1:1, ESV)
So what does Paul mean by "untimely born"? This word often conveys a "miscarriage" or an unusual birth at the wrong time. The qualifications for being an Apostle is clearly spelled out in Acts 1. The Apostles were specifically chosen by Jesus to advance his ministry. When the Apostles were seeking to replace Judas for the role of Apostle, these were the qualifications that were made:“Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” (1 Corinthians 15:7–10, ESV)
So, it seems Paul recognized this and saw his "untimely birth" as being due to his not following Jesus during his earthly ministry (but he did receive direct revelation from Jesus as confirmation of his being "chosen" for the specific task of being an apostle (Gal 1:12)).“So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”” (Acts 1:21–22, ESV)
Furthermore, the office of Apostles no longer exists because they were used to build the "foundation" of the church (Eph. 2:20). Anyone who has ever built something recognizes that you can continually add on to the structure, but you only build the foundation once. The foundation of the Gospel and the church has been laid by the appointed and chosen Apostles. There is no need for a new or added foundation. An apostle is one who was specifically chosen by Jesus Christ and audibly commanded to proclaim the hidden message of the Gospel to both Jews and Gentiles. These people were given miraculous gifts to confirm the message they had been appointed to give and all suffered immensely as part of their message and testimony.
This leads us to discuss the role of the prophet.
PROPHETS
What is a prophet and how should we define them? In my view, the role of the prophet is not much different than that of the Apostle. Most who think of prophets will think of the ability to foretell future events. Certainly, this is a characteristic of many prophets. However, their primary function was to forth-tell the message of God to a group of people. Sometimes these messages included future predictions (usually of judgment if they people did not repent), but not always. What is clear to me in the OT definitions of prophets is that they received direct revelation from God to proclaim to a group of people.
For instance, Samuel heard the voice of God. It was so clear that he mistook it for Eli calling him (1 Sam. 3:4). These individuals had visions and dreams where they received words directly from the Lord to proclaim to the people. In fact, this is how prophets are defined. They hear directly from God in a very clear way.
God made himself known to the prophets. He spoke to them in visions and dreams. They heard specifically what they were supposed to say and do to the degree that if they disobeyed they were punished or even killed (see Jonah and 1 Kings 13:20-25). Prophets did not simply have "gut feelings" or "instincts" about what God wanted them to say (as many define prophecy today). They are always defined as those who have heard directly from God or have seen Him in a vision of some sort (see Isaiah 6). In fact, the false prophets are defined as those who prophecy out of their imagination rather than hearing directly from God:“And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”” (Numbers 12:6–8, ESV)
and again,““Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, and say to those who prophesy from their own hearts: ‘Hear the word of the Lord!’” (Ezekiel 13:2, ESV)
Clearly, those who prophesy, do so out of direct revelation. But what about those who have insights into things they should not have known? I believe this would be akin to the "word of Knowledge" or "gift of knowledge." Just because someone has an insight into something you ought to do that comes from the Lord does not make them a prophet. Prophets, as we have seen, received direct revelation from God and were appointed to share that message to an individual or group. They too, were often equipped with miraculous gifts to confirm that God was speaking through them.“Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’ ”” (Jeremiah 23:16–17, ESV)
Why are these roles not functioning today?
I believe these roles are not functioning today because they are no longer needed. Both of these gifts were foundational for the church (see again Eph. 2:20). In the NT, the focus of the gift of prophecy is the revelation of Jesus (Rev. 19:10). The Apostles and prophets functioned in similar manner in the NT. That role was to get the revelation of Jesus to the people. I believe Apostles were specificially chosen men who followed Jesus during his earthly ministry and witnessed his resurrection. They were appointed for the ministry of sharing his message to the world. Paul was "untimely born" as one of these unique messengers to share the "mystery of the Gospel" that he received through direct revelation and was appointed to share it with the Gentiles.
Prophets were also foundational in the NT. In the absence of the Bible, many young churches did not have any authority or revelation to base their faith upon. There were only a handful of Apostles and if they ever did visit a church, usually it was either to start church or was just a short visit to encourage and build up the believers in that city. Prophets were gifts given to the early church to give supernatural revelation of Gods' message, similar to what we have in our NTs today. Now that the Gospel has been fully proclaimed and the message of God in Jesus fully revealed and available in the NT Scriptures, there is no need for further new revelation or messages from God. The message has been revealed, the Gospel has been proclaimed and the foundation of the church has been set. I believe the NT even indicates that these gifts would not be functioning throughout the life of the church.
I find this passage quite intriguing. Why does Peter not say, "false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false prophets among you..." I think it is because the role of the enemy is now to try to dismantle the revealed truth of Jesus Christ, rather than bring false revelations. The revelation of Jesus has been made. He is the last Word. Now, the role of the enemy is to attack Jesus. We see this also in 1 John where John declares that "antichrists have come." It is the last time. The revelation of Jesus has been made and now the role of church is to grow in that faith, not add new messages to it. Thus, the role of the Apostle and prophet were foundational and the foundation has been built...once for all.“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.” (2 Peter 2:1, ESV)