Has the office of apostle ceased?

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In answering this question, I have been helped by four articles written by Pastor John MacArthur, where he described the requirements for an apostle: chosen by God, appointed by Jesus, witness of the risen Christ, and unique ministry duties. He demonstrates that these requirements proves that there cannot be apostles today. These articles are a good example of systematic theology done well, where the combined weight of the testimony of many passages of Scripture proves a point that no single passage establishes on its own.

I’m going to summarize each argument with screenshots of appropriate passages, with a brief discussion under each.

First, an apostle must have been chosen by God. Paul called himself “an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God” (2 Cor 1:1; see also, among others, Eph 1:1; 2 Tim 1:1). God had chosen Paul, according to Paul’s testimony, “before I was born” (Gal 1:15). A claim to be an apostle is an enormous one, claiming as it does extrabiblical insight into the purposes and will of God.

Secondly, an apostle must have been appointed by Jesus. This is also a huge claim. The original twelve apostles could substantiate this with their personal testimony of the incarnate Christ choosing them (Luke 6:13). Paul, even though he was “untimely born” (1 Cor 15:8), was also chosen personally by Jesus (Acts 9:15; Gal 1:15-16), and learned the gospel from his own lips (Gal 1:12).

Thirdly, an apostle must have been a witness of the risen Christ. This requirement is seen in the deliberation of the eleven remaining disciples, after Judas’s suicide, as they endeavored to see whom God had chosen to replace him: they said that such a one “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” (Acts 1:21-22). And even though Paul was not among that number, he claimed that “last of all," Jesus had “appeared also to me” (1 Cor 15:8; cf. Acts 9:1-8).

And finally, an apostle had unique ministry duties. These began during Christ’s ministry, as Mark 3:14-15 testifies. The apostles were to be “with” Jesus, and “to preach and have authority to cast out demons” (see also Matt 28:19-20; Rom 1:4-5). Jesus also gave them the ability to heal diseases (Luke 9:1-20).

Can anyone today claim that God has chosen him, that Jesus has personally appointed him to be an apostle, and that he has seen the risen and glorified Jesus with his own eyes? Anyone can make such claims, of course, but that is a far cry from verifying them. Such claims would have to be substantiated by miracles, exorcisms, and healings. And where are these things found? I answer: nowhere. The original apostles actually did heal diseases (see Acts 3:1-10, 12-16 for one example), unlike the fraudulent claims of modern-day hucksters like Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland.

There are other supporting arguments for the cessation of the office of apostle—ones which are not sufficient to make the case on their own but which add weight when considered along with the requirements of an apostle. For instance, there are only instructions in the NT for choosing elders and deacons. We are given no guidance on selecting apostles (or prophets or evangelists, for that matter). Then there is the fact that, over and over again, the apostles are called “the twelve.” They needed a replacement after Judas’s suicide to make the number twelve again (Acts 1:24-26), and John, in his vision, saw the New Jerusalem, which not only had twelve gates with the numbers of the twelve tribes of Israel, but also “twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Rev 21:14).

The testimony of the totality of the New Testament, including the four requirements for apostleship, is that the gift of apostle has ceased.

I look forward to discussion and further digging into the Scriptures on this topic!

Brent, thanks for this post. I think this topic is crucial. This question is vital for the health of local churches. It deeply affects church practice and life. As churches and individuals, how do we know how to “conduct [our]selves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ?” (Phil 1:27). Who ought to administer the Lord’s Supper and baptism? Who can plant new churches and appoint new church leaders? How does the Lord Jesus speak to and lead his church today? Ultimately, this question focuses on authority. To whom do we look for authority as we worship, plant churches, and theologize?

I’ll add one argument to support the points that Brent made above and then one further argument. My first argument is that the NT uses the word αποστολος/apostle almost exclusively to refer to the group of men chosen by the Lord Jesus as his authorized witnesses and representatives. Here’s a table and a pie chart that shows how NT authors used this word:

While ἀπόστολος could refer to any authorized messenger in wider Jewish literature, these charts clarify that in the NT it almost always refers to a specific group of men chosen by the Lord Jesus as his authorized messengers. The Lord chose these men according to specific criteria (see Brent’s post above). Nobody today could meet these criteria.

Second, I would argue that on one level the apostolic office has not ceased, not because I think that new apostles can arise today, not because I think that that the office was passed from the apostles to the first bishops and on through church history. I don’t think the office has ceased because I think it continues in and only in the original writings and teachings of the apostles: the NT. When the apostles died, their God-given, Spirit-inspired authority continued through these writings. The apostles appointed men to replace them as leaders in particular churches. However, they did not confer their apostolic authority upon these men nor could they have. True apostolic authority came directly from the Lord Jesus not from human beings. As the apostles neared the end of their lives, they urged their followers to continue in the apostolic teachings: “What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you––guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us…And the things you heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Tim 1:13–14; 2:2).

We cannot miss that this “good deposit” came to these churches and leaders through the apostles’ writings. As the apostles aged and the church expanded, they did not appoint others to replace them as Christ’s apostles. Instead, the apostles kept writing to exert their Christ-given, life-giving authority over the church. Near the end of the final apostolic writing, the last living apostle wrote, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll” (Rev 22:18–19). Remarkably, the apostles expected their writings to continue as the risen Lord’s standard for the church even beyond their earthly lives.

Here’s a helpful and thought-provoking quote from page 1580 in volume 2 of Eckhard Schnabel’s Early Christian Mission:

“The word that the witnesses of Jesus the crucified and risen Messiah and Savior proclaim has a historical foundation that is particular, unrepeatable, unique. The Twelve are a part of a specific history; their role cannot be taken over by later witnesses. This is why the church in the second and third centuries soon began to read the ‘witness’ of these first witnesses in their services as authoritative Scripture. Luke does not intend to transform the readers of the book of Acts into ‘apostles’—his readers are members of the community of believers who ‘devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching’ (Acts 2:42) and who carried it as the word of God to other people (Acts 8:4; 11:19-21). As Christians who live in the twenty-first century, we have not seen the crucified and risen Messiah, but we have believed the teaching of the apostles, who did see him and could confirm his resurrection. It is our task to hear, understand and proclaim their witness. We do not proclaim our own experience if and when we engage in ‘mission’ in the New Testament sense of the word; rather, we proclaim the word of the first witnesses.”

@Nate-Davidson said in Has the office of apostle ceased?:

When the apostles died, their God-given, Spirit-inspired authority continued through these writings. The apostles appointed men to replace them as leaders in particular churches. However, they did not confer their apostolic authority upon these men nor could they have. True apostolic authority came directly from the Lord Jesus not from human beings. As the apostles neared the end of their lives, they urged their followers to continue in the apostolic teachings: “What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you––guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us…And the things you heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Tim 1:13–14; 2:2).

That is an extremely helpful point, Nate. We still live under apostolic authority, which is located in the inspired writings of the New Testament (and the OT is inspired as well, of course, and is authoritative as well). We haven’t lost our need of apostles, and God has graciously provided their unchanging writings, given by inspiration of the Spirit.

Your quotation from Schnabel helped confirm my interpretation of Scripture, but from a different direction than I had thought of it before. It is vital that we not proclaim our own experience in our witness, but the gospel according to the apostolic writings.