Lessons #121 and 122
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Understanding the sufferings of the apostles (1 Cor 4:8-13)
8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings—and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you! 9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. 10 We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! 11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.
The message of 1 Corinthians 4:8-13 that we are considering is that You should endeavor to understand the sufferings of ministers of God’s word when they occur and respond properly. To this end, we stated previously that in our passage, there are three factors that affect improper understanding of apostles’ sufferings among the Corinthians. The first that we considered in our last study is a feeling of spiritual and perhaps of material self-sufficiency at any given time. Hence, we proceed to consider the second factor.
A second factor that affect improper understanding of apostle’s sufferings and so those of the ministers of God’s word is ignorance of the status of the apostles as those who must suffer but with right attitude. This factor is derived from the fact that verse 9 begins with the conjunction “for.” The word “for” is translated from a Greek conjunction (gar) that is used in different ways in the Greek. The Greek conjunction may be used as a marker of cause or reason so that it may be translated “for” or “because” in the English. It may be used as a marker of clarification or explanation so that it may be translated in the English with the word “for” or “you see.” Under this second usage, the Greek word may be used as a narrative marker to express continuation or connection in which case the Greek word may be left untranslated in the English translation. There are more nuances of the Greek conjunction under this second usage. The Greek conjunction may be used to signal an important point or transition to another topic leading to the translation “well, then, you see.” It can also be translated “yes, indeed, certainly, surely”, especially when the Greek conjunction is used in replies, confirming what has been asked. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:9, some commentators take it as a marker of reason the apostle desired to be a part of the hypothetical reigning of the Corinthians. This notwithstanding, it seems that the apostle used it for explanation of a fact the Corinthians were ignorant that contributed to their indifference, so to say, to the sufferings of the apostles. Our interpretation subsumes the interpretation of using the conjunction as a marker of reason. The explanation of the apostle not only includes the reason he desired to be reigning with the Corinthians but states a fact of his suffering that the Corinthians seemed to be ignorant of its reason.
The fact the Corinthians were ignorant, is the status of the apostles as those who must suffer but with right attitude that Apostle Paul introduced in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 4:9 it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. This sentence indicates that Apostle Paul perceived the suffering by the apostles as inevitable since that is their lot assigned by God due to their position as apostles. This explanation may seem not to be what is intended in this first sentence of the verse. Therefore, let me show that this is the case by examining the words used in the sentence, but I will base our examination on the literal translation of the sentence. Literally, the Greek reads I think, God displayed us the apostles last as sentenced to death.
The word “seems” of the NIV or “think” of the literal translation is translated from a Greek word (dokeō) that may mean “to consider as probable,” hence “to think, believe, suppose, consider,” as the apostle used the word to caution against arrogance in Galatians 6:3:
If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
The word may mean “to appear to one’s understanding,” and so means “to seem, be recognized as,” as the word is used by Apostle Paul to indicate he was not trying to frighten the Corinthians with his letters, as we read in 2 Corinthians 10:9:
I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters.
It is in the sense of “to be recognized as being something or having reputation” that our Greek word is used by Apostle Paul to describe the church leaders in Jerusalem in Galatians 2:9:
James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews.
The clause those reputed to be pillars is more literally those thought to be pillars. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:9, the word is used in the sense “to suppose,” that is, “to think or believe something; especially on uncertain or tentative grounds.” Hence, the word is used to express the apostle’s true feeling regarding the situation of the apostles. The thing the apostle believed God had done regarding the apostles is to make them and so their suffering visible to all, as in the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 4:9 has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena or literally displayed us the apostles last as sentenced to death.
The expression “put ... on display” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (apodeiknymi) that may mean to show forth the quality of an entity, hence “to show forth, display, attest,” as it is used to indicate that Jesus was shown to be the Messiah by God through the miracles He performed, as stated in Acts 2:22:
“Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.
The sentence Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you is literally Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God. The word may mean “to prove,” that is, to demonstrate that something is true, as it is used to describe the charges the Jews brought against Apostle Paul that they could not demonstrate to be true in Acts 25:7:
When Paul appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove.
The word may mean to cause something to be known publicly and so means “to make, render, proclaim, appoint, exhibit or show publicly.” It is in the sense of “to exhibit,” that is, to display in a manner accessible to or observable by the public that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 4:9. Hence, Apostle Paul indicated that God has displayed or exhibited the apostles as those sentenced to death.
The apostle was probably thinking of a death procession of criminals as they are marched to death so that people could view them. But then, the last in a death procession would be seen longer by the public viewing the procession than the person who is the first in the procession. It is this position that Apostle Paul compared the apostles in the phrase at the end of the procession or literally last. This is because we have a Greek word (eschatos) that may mean “farthest, last” as it pertains to being at the farthest boundary of an area, as the word is used in Jesus’ declaration of the mission of His disciples when they receive the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in Acts 1:8:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The word may mean “least, last” as it pertains to being the final item in a series, as the word is used to describe Christ as the last Adam in 1 Corinthians 15:45:
So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.
The word may mean “last, least, most insignificant,” as it pertains to furthest extremity in rank, value, or situation, as the word is used in Jesus’ teaching regarding humility in Luke 14:9:
If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.
It is with the meaning “last” in the sense of “coming after all others in a series or position” that the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:9. However, the way the word “last” is translated in our English versions depended on how the translators understood the imagery involved in the mind of the apostle. There are two possible pictures that the apostle would have had in mind. A first picture refers to a public spectacle such as a display in an arena, in which people previously condemned to death were killed by being made to fight with one another, with gladiators, or with wild animals. This interpretation is reflected in the phrase “last act” in the translation of the REB of the first clause of 1 Corinthians 4:9 as it seems to me God has made us apostles the last act in the show, like men condemned to death in the arena. A second picture is that of Roman triumphal procession, in which a conquering general staged a splendid parade that included not only his armies but the booty as well. However, those at the end of the procession were the captives condemned to die. This interpretation is reflected in the NIV in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 4:9 at the end of the procession. While we cannot be certain of the imagery involved, it is probably the second that might have been in the apostle’s mind since he used the concept of triumphal procession in describing himself and his team as ministers of new covenant in 2 Corinthians 2:14:
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
Regardless of the picture in the apostle’s mind, his point is that of humiliation or sufferings that the apostles are subjected. Again, the fact the apostles are compared to being in the last position in a death procession, is simply to make the point that they are more visible to the public more than other believers although in humiliating situations. This should not be difficult if we recognize that today, the ministers of the word of God are more visible in local church or are in the limelight more than others, sometimes in good sense and at other times in a bad sense.
Be that as it may, we should bear in mind that the apostle is concerned with suffering in the section of 1 Corinthians 4:8-13 that we are considering. If we do, it is not difficult then to understand that the apostle is concerned to indicate that the sufferings of the apostles are inevitable or ordained by God. We say this because of the comparison in the phrase of the NIV like men condemned to die in the arena or literally as sentenced to death. The literal translation reveals that the translators of the NIV were interpretative in their translation although a good way of conveying the imagery involved. Anyway, the verbal phrase condemned to death of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (epithanatios) that means “sentenced to die, condemned to death”; it appears only once in the Greek NT in 1 Corinthians 4:9. The comparison of the apostles to those sentenced to death is the apostle’s way of saying that the sufferings of the apostles that involve humiliation are inevitable or destined by God. This is because once a person is condemned to death in ancient Greco-Roman world, the individual’s death is inevitable. Thus, by comparing the apostles to those condemned to death, the apostle intended to convey the inevitability of the suffering of the apostles as well as the humiliation involved in death sentence of that time. Hence, our interpretation that the sentence of 1 Corinthians 4:9 it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena means that Apostle Paul perceived the sufferings of the apostles are inevitable as that is their lot assigned by God due to their position as apostles is justified.
We have been using the word “apostles” because of the phrase in 1 Corinthians 4:9 us apostles and so who are these apostles? To begin with, the word “apostles” is translated from a Greek word (apostolos) that generally pertains to messengers. Thus, it is used of messengers without extraordinary status hence means “delegate, envoy, messenger” as it is used in Jesus teaching recorded in John 13:16:
I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
The word may be used of messengers with extraordinary status, especially of God’s messenger or envoy so may mean “apostle.” We have given the general meaning of Greek word translated “apostles” in 1 Corinthians 4:9 but we still need to identify whom the apostle had in mind in using the word “apostles.” To do this, we need to review in detail what we studied few years ago about apostles in Ephesians 2. This review may be new to those who were not with us when we studied the subject of apostles as given in the NT. Even if you were here, you probably have forgotten what we studied so a detailed review is proper.
In the NT, the word “apostle” is indeed used both in restricted and general senses. In a restricted sense, the word is used to refer to the twelve disciples of the Lord Jesus whom He chose from among His disciples and designated them with that title, as we read in Luke 6:13:
When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:
Mark reveals to us that there were two purposes for appointing the apostles of Jesus: to be with Him and to go out to preach with authority to drive out demons, according to Mark 3:14-15:
14 He appointed twelve — designating them apostles — that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons.
It seems that the most important distinguishing characteristic of the twelve apostles of Jesus is to be with Him in the sense of continuous association with Him throughout His earthly ministry and learning from Him. There are two reasons for this assertion.
First, the second purpose of sending the twelve to preach with authority over demons was also fulfilled by the seventy-two other disciples Jesus sent out to preach, as we read in Luke 10:1:
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.
The mission of the seventy-two disciples is given in Luke 10:9:
Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.'
The authority received by the seventy-two disciples over demons is implied by the fact that during their mission work, the demons submitted to them in the name of Jesus, as they reported to the Lord, according to Luke 10:17-20:
17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." 18 He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
The mission of the Twelve as well as their authority is the same as the seventy-two disciples when Jesus sent them out on a mission field, according to Matthew 10:1, 7-8:
1 He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
7 As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
Since the mission and authority of the seventy-two disciples are identical with that of the Twelve then their mission or authority is not unique and so cannot be considered distinguishing characteristic of an apostle in the technical sense of the Twelve. Hence, the distinguishing characteristic of the Twelve is being with Jesus.
Second, when the apostles moved to replace Judas Iscariot to maintain the original number of the apostles, the characteristic Peter specified is indeed that which agrees with being with Jesus, as we read in Acts 1:21-22:
21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection."
There are two qualifications of being among the twelve apostles that Peter specified. The individual disciple who is to be considered an apostle in the sense of the Twelve must have been with Jesus during His earthly ministry and must have also witnessed His bodily resurrection, as implied in the clause of Acts 1:22, when Jesus was taken up from us. Jesus appeared physically in a resurrection body and when He ascended it was in a literal visible manner to the disciples. Furthermore, from this passage it becomes clear that an important function of an apostle is to witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Following these two qualifications, Matthias was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot. Of course, there is the question as to whether he was indeed the twelfth apostle. Here, I must confess that in the past I have followed those who indicate that he was not actually the twelfth apostle but that Apostle Paul was. One of the reasons often advanced for this position is the fact that no one heard of him again in church history. This is a reason that comes from deduction and silence of the Scripture. As we have noted in the past, we cannot be dogmatic about any principle derived from deduction and silence of the Scripture. The fact that Matthias was not heard from after his selection is not a good argument to assert that his election was illegal as that argument can be applied to the other apostles that were not mentioned in Acts since only Peter and John were the only members of the Twelve featured in Acts. Of course, outside the Bible we find several traditions concerning Matthias’ ministry. For example, one source indicates that he ministered and died in Jerusalem, another source indicates he ministered in Damascus and possibly in Ethiopia where he suffered martyrdom. The point is that we cannot be certain that his election as the twelfth apostle is illegal. There are certain facts to consider that should cause us not to be dogmatic about asserting that Matthias was not the twelfth apostle. His appointment was indeed from God. We say this because although he was chosen by lot, the Scripture (Prov 16:33) tells us that the outcome of lot is from God so we can assert that God chose him as Peter was certainly guided by the Holy Spirit in his move since he based his action on the Scripture and prayer. Furthermore, we should assume that the early church accepted Matthias as the twelfth apostle so that when the Twelve was mentioned later in Acts he must have been included. We are referring to Acts 6:2:
So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.
In any event, the point is that the word “apostles” in the NT is used in an exclusive sense to refer to the Twelve.
The Twelve, however, are not the only ones described with the word “apostle” in the NT. There are others mentioned as apostles. The individual that stands out among the other apostles mentioned in the NT is Paul but before we comment on Paul as an apostle, we should note others who are mentioned in the NT as apostles. Barnabas was described with that title in Acts 14:14:
But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting:
Paul and Barnabas were called apostles here certainly because the Holy Spirit sent them to their mission, as recorded in Acts 13:4:
The two of them [Barnabas and Saul i.e. Paul], sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.
It is possible that Barnabas was among Jesus’ disciples during His earthly ministry although we cannot be dogmatic about this but there are few facts that suggest this. He was well-known quite early in the early church because the apostles had given him that name, according to Acts 4:36:
Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement),
He was the one who introduced Paul to the apostles, according to Acts 9:27:
But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.
It is probably because he must have been an eyewitness to the resurrection that the apostles were confident to send him as a teacher or a minister to new converts in Antioch, as we read in Acts 11:22:
News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
Another individual that was regarded as an apostle together with Paul was Silas, according to 1 Thessalonians 2:6:
We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else. As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you,
The phrase apostles of Christ refers to Paul and members of his missionary team who were Silas and Timothy. How do we know? It is because at least one of them accompanied Paul as he came to Thessalonica to preach the gospel, as evident from Acts 16:40-17:1:
Acts 16:40:
After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia's house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left.
Acts 17:1:
When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.
When Paul used the phrase apostles of Christ in describing himself and Silas, he had in mind that Silas was sent by Christ as his special envoy as he was. It is true that Timothy was not mentioned directly in our passage but there is the implication that he accompanied Paul during his visit to Thessalonica; for otherwise, since the apostle went from Thessalonica to Berea, it would have been difficult to understand how Timothy and Silas were left behind at Berea in Acts 17:14:
The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea.
Timothy could not have been an eyewitness to Jesus’ ministry since it was during Paul’s second missionary journey that we first learn about him, but this was not the case with Silas. It is possible that he was also an original disciple of Jesus as one who witnessed His bodily resurrection since he was one of the leaders in the early church, according to Acts 15:22:
Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers.
Another individual that was recognized as an apostle was James, the half-brother of Jesus. Paul included him among the other apostles in Galatians 1:19:
I saw none of the other apostles — only James, the Lord's brother.
James was not a believer in Christ during His earthly ministry since the Scripture tells us that none of Jesus’ brothers believed in Him in John 7:5:
For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
It appears then that James became a believer because the resurrected Jesus appeared to him, according to 1 Corinthians 15:7:
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
James was not the only one that was mentioned as an apostle by Paul but also Andronicus and Junias in Romans 16:7:
Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
We do not know where these men were in prison with Paul; but they were, as he stated here. Furthermore, these were Jewish men who believed in Christ before Paul and he acknowledged them as apostles who were known to the Roman church; otherwise, it will not make sense for Paul to mention their names in his greeting to the Romans. It is equally possibly that because these two men were believers before Apostle Paul that they could have been among the original disciples of Jesus who witnessed His literal resurrection.
Still there are at least two other individuals that are described as apostles of the church. Epaphroditus is so described in Philippians 2:25:
But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.
The word “messenger” is translated from the same Greek word rendered “apostle” in 1 Corinthians 4:9. Titus was also included among those other believers Apostle Paul himself considered apostles in 2 Corinthians 8:23:
As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ.
The word “representatives” is literally “apostles.” So far then, we have mentioned at least eight other individuals described as apostles in addition to the Twelve so let us comment on the apostleship of Paul as we stated we would.
There is no doubt that Paul is an apostle of Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ chose him to be an apostle to the Gentiles as he indicated in one of the accounts of his encounter with Jesus Christ, as we read in Acts 26:16:
'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you.
Paul understood his appointment by Jesus Christ as an apostle to the Gentiles as he mentioned several times in his epistles. Take for example, in Romans 11:13:
I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry
So, there is no doubt that Paul is an apostle of Jesus Christ; the question is whether he is the twelfth apostle instead of Matthias. Again, I confess that in the past having followed the traditional teaching, I asserted that Paul was the twelfth apostle based on deduction. Truly, it has become clearer to me that to be dogmatic about any assertion related to spiritual life it must be based on a clear passage from the Scripture. On this premise, there is no passage that states that Paul is the twelfth apostle; therefore, we cannot absolutely state that he was the twelfth apostle. We can only assert confidently that he was an apostle of Jesus Christ because Jesus called him. But whether he belongs to the Twelve is something no one can assert with certainty. There are two facts to consider about this point. We have already noted that to be a member of the Twelve, a disciple must have been with the Lord during His earthly ministry as Peter asserted and as also the Holy Spirit through Mark indicated that one purpose of being a member of the Twelve is to be with Jesus (Mark 3:14). Paul does not meet this criterion. This then makes it difficult to assert that he is among the Twelve. Another fact is that Paul did not witness the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ in a literal fashion as Matthias and the other members of the Twelve did. Jesus appeared to Paul in a vision as evident in the description of his encounter with Jesus Christ in Acts 9:3-7:
3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" 5 "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. 6 "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." 7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.
Clearly, Jesus revealed Himself to Paul in a vision since the men with him did not see Jesus or understood what He said to Paul. In the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus in which he came to individuals or group, everyone that was present saw Him in His resurrection body, so it is difficult to claim that Paul saw the resurrected Christ as the eleven members of the Twelve or Matthias. Furthermore, Jesus, after His resurrection, appeared to James, as we have noted and by every indication must have commissioned him to be an apostle for him to be described as such. Now, who can say that James could not be the twelfth apostle? The point is that we cannot be dogmatic about whether Paul is the twelfth apostle or not. He could be, but if so, that is information that God has not seen fit to reveal to us. The most we can truthfully deduce from the Scripture is that the authority that Paul had as an apostle is in keeping with that of the Twelve. We say this because Peter and John, being members of the Twelve, laid their hands on believers to receive the Holy Spirit, as described in Acts 8:17:
Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
The same thing occurred with Paul, according to Acts 19:6:
When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
The fact that Paul did exactly what Peter and John did, lead us to conclude that Paul’s authority as an apostle is similar to that of the Twelve represented by Peter and John. Of course, we cannot be absolute in our deduction since we have no record of any of the other members of the Twelve doing the same. This notwithstanding, we are on a safer ground to assume that the authority of Paul’s apostleship is the same as that of the Twelve, especially as he never considered himself inferior to them as he argued in the second chapter of Galatians. In truth, there is no reason to determine with certainty whether Paul was chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ as the twelfth apostle to replace Judas except probably for the purpose of arguing about cessation of apostleship from deduction.
So far, we have considered those mentioned as apostles of Jesus Christ in the NT, so we have to ask then; what qualifies a person as an apostle in the NT sense? Truly speaking, we do not have a specific passage that explicitly gives the qualifications of an apostle as we have, for example, concerning the office of an overseer or deacon (1 Tim 3:1-10). By this, we mean that there is no single passage that gives us the criteria for apostleship. We have already noted the criteria for belonging to the Twelve in the sense that the person must have been with Jesus during His earthly ministry and must have witnessed His resurrection. It is true that Peter did not specify that the person must be called by the Lord Jesus personally but that seems to be implied. We say this because Jesus chose all members of the original Twelve and sent them out as His apostles but we have also noted that Barnabas was chosen as an apostle and sent out by the Holy Spirit in the passage we cited previously in thirteenth chapter of Acts, but worth repeating with more of the verses included, that is, Acts 13:2-4:
2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. 4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.
In this passage, it is to the church in Antioch that the Holy Spirit revealed the choice of Barnabas and Paul as apostles. The two men were not informed directly by the Holy Spirit that they are apostles, but the situation seems to be that it was revealed to a prophet who then communicated the information to the church. So then, it is certain that no one is an apostle without God calling and sending him out as His envoy either directly or indirectly. We use the term God to cover the members of the Godhead. For, we have seen that it is the Holy Spirit that chose Barnabas and Paul as apostles to go into mission field. Also, we have noted that the Lord Jesus Himself called Paul to be an apostle but also Apostle Paul indicates that he was called by both the Son, the Lord Jesus, and the Father in Galatians 1:1:
Paul, an apostle — sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—
The Apostle Paul asserted the same fact that he was commissioned an apostle by Lord Jesus Christ and the Father in 1 Timothy 1:1:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,
This passage does not mention God the Father as the source of the command instead the command is from God our Savior. The reason we could interpret the phrase God our Savior as a reference to God the Father is because the apostle had indicated that his commission as an apostle came from Jesus Christ and God the Father in the passage we cited previously, that is, Galatians 1:1. Of course, it is equally possible that the phrase God our Savior refers to Jesus Christ as the Savior. So then, an important qualification of being an apostle outside of the Twelve is that God must call the person either directly as in case of Paul or indirectly through prophetic revelation as was the case with Barnabas.
It is true that there is no particular passage that specifically lists the qualifications of an apostle apart from those required to become a member of the Twelve, but we can deduce from the defense of Paul’s apostleship one additional requirement of being an apostle of Jesus Christ not in the sense of the Twelve, which is to have seen the risen Christ, according to 1 Corinthians 9:1:
Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?
This additional requirement cannot exist without the first of being called to be an apostle by God since there are many other individuals that saw the risen Christ but were not called apostles in the sense of God sending them out. We have noted, previously, that the Apostle Paul saw the risen Christ in a vision not in a literal sense as the members of the twelve who saw Him and watched Him eat food in a literal sense. This point is an important one in discussing the continuation of apostleship in a sense that does not include the Twelve.
The fact that the Paul saw Jesus in a vision raises the question as to whether someone could be an apostle today in the NT sense outside of the closed circle of the Twelve if he sees Jesus in a vision. Many answer this question with an absolute “no” because of Apostle Paul’s statement recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:7-8:
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
Those who use this passage to justify the answer “no” to the possibility of someone being an apostle today take the phrase last of all to mean that Paul was the last person to whom Jesus appeared and after him Jesus will not appear to another person. There are several problems with this interpretation. The word “last” is translated from a Greek adjective (eschatos) that can mean “last in a series of objects or events” or “least important.” The context suggests that the apostle used the Greek adjective as the least important and not in the sense of last in time, meaning that after him Jesus will not appear to anyone. This interpretation is supported by what the apostle says next in 1 Corinthians 15:9:
For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
The apostle is concerned with comparing himself to others to whom the Lord appeared to and he sees himself as least important because of his persecution of the church. So, it is wrong to use Paul’s assertion last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born to mean that Jesus cannot appear to any one in vision after he appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus. Such a view is contradicted by the fact that Jesus spoke to Paul at a later time in a vision, according to Acts 18:9:
One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.
Before Paul was sent to Rome, Jesus also appeared to him to encourage him, as we read in Acts 23:11:
The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome."
Furthermore, if Paul’s vision of Jesus on the way to Damascus was the last appearance of Jesus to anyone in vision then it is difficult to explain the fact that several years after the death of Paul Jesus appeared in a vision to Apostle John, as we read in Revelation 1:17-18:
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
These visions of Jesus we have cited are from the Scripture but in modern times there have been testimonies of those who have seen vision of Jesus Christ. Some of these reported visions have occurred among Muslims, who because of such visions became believers in Christ. Christianity Today in its September 2002 edition described some of these visions. Anyone who knows the difficulty a Muslim face for renouncing Islam would not doubt such stories from those living in places like Saudi Arabia who testified to the fact that they became Christians because of their vision of Jesus Christ. To doubt those who put their lives on the line to claim they are believers because they believed in Jesus Christ that appeared to them in vision is to me to go beyond reality. Furthermore, such an attitude almost makes one to be omniscient to know that God could not do such a thing. In effect, I think it is dangerous for any human being to say what God can and cannot do when He has not clearly stated such in the Scripture. There is no passage that clearly teaches that Jesus could not appear to anyone in vision today. So, if He could, there is nothing that makes it impossible for Him to send one of those He appeared to as missionary and in that sense, someone can still be an apostle in the NT sense but not as member of the Twelve. We have more to say but we are out of time but let me remind you that the second factor for improper understanding of the sufferings of the apostles and so of ministers of God’s word is ignorance of the status of the apostles as those who must suffer but with right attitude.