We, as Christians, believe that God is, that He is truth, and that the Bible is His unerring Word.
Part of that understanding is that Christ Jesus, while he was on the earth, chose men from among His disciples who would be special ambassadors for Him, and that they were the ones who would continue to spread His Word and teach His law to mankind after he was gone. We call them the Apostles.
These men were commissioned by Jesus to complete the work of revealing the plan of God:
- John 14:25-26: These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
- Acts 1:1-2: In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
These apostles (the word literally means ambassador) were given special credentials for their work: continuing revelation of God’s word. They were qualified by the close association they had with Christ and by His specific selection of these men so that they could be witnesses of His resurrection to the world. These men were given the ability to work signs and wonders (miracles) as proof of their credentials to show their audience that they spoke for God. This office came with a great deal of authority, and the apostle Paul was zealous in his defense of his own position as an apostle because of this:
- 1 Corinthians 9:1: Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord?
- 2 Corinthians 12:11-12: I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing. The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.
In the New Testament, the concept of God’s revelation to man goes hand-in-hand with the apostles and the men who were closely associated with them, who were also used as prophets (the word literally means “mouthpiece”), like Mark (also called John Mark, traveling companion of both Paul and Peter) and Luke (physician and author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, also a friend and traveling companion of Paul):
- Ephesians 3:2-6: For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
- 2 Peter 3:1-4: This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”
- Acts 2:42-43: And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
The church in the New Testament was built under the authority of the apostles, who in turn received their authority from Christ Jesus, to teach His laws, not their own:
- Matthew 18:18: Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. (NASB)
- Ephesians 2:19-22: So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:15: So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.
Also key to our understanding of the Scriptures is that under this authority the apostles gave commandments to the church and were set in order by them. That is, the apostles gave the church, from Christ, the rules by which it should behave and govern itself:
- 1 Corinthians 7:17: Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.
- 1 Corinthians 4:17: That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.
- 1 Corinthians 11:16: If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.
- 1 Corinthians 11:33-34: So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another—if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come.
- 1 Corinthians 16:1: Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do.
- 1 Timothy 3:14-15: I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.
- Titus 1:5: This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you…
Thus, we can see the importance and function of the apostles in the New Testament church, and we can see that if anyone would claim to be a Christian according to Biblical teaching, he must do so in accordance with the teaching of the apostles. Even after these men died, in reading the literature of the Christians in the late first century and early second century, we discover that whenever they were debating a point of doctrine or law, the first question they would always ask is this: What did the apostles say about it? It is that mindset which we at the Monterey Peninsula church of Christ cling to, as we pattern ourselves after the church described in the New Testament.
(All Scripture quotations taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted; emphasis belongs to the author)
