Apostleship: its office and authority

why the office of apostle did not continue

To be an apostle, it was required to be a witness of the resurrected Christ (Acts 1:22; cf 1 Cor. 9:1). This was for the purpose of the Church being founded by specially commisioned eyewitnesses who would in turn bear witness to the risen Christ and their teachings were to be received with the authority of the risen Christ himself. Their message was additionally confirmed with signs and gifts which specially demonstrated the message of salvation, forgiveness of sins, and an inbreaking of the new creation upon the old creation through the ministration of the Holy Spirit in the Church.


Paul mentions that he was the last of the apostles (1 Cor. 15:7-9).

So it is important to note that no one simply proclaimed themselves to be an apostle because it sounded like a good fit. Even Paul after witnessing a direct revelation of the risen Christ had to undergo review by the larger apostleship because the body of apostles were commissioned together not as isolated individuals with special private revelations. There had to be parity among them as equals bearing witness from the same source of authority.


At the end of Paul's ministry (and life), his successor, Timothy, is never given the title of apostle but rather is admonished to keep in the apostolic faith he received.

This point highlights an important distinction that is inferred from all the NT data on this issue: the apostolic office itself (with its authority and gifts) does not pass down to another generation, but remains as the foundation and pillar of the Church. The apostolic teachings however, as proclaimed in the apostolic churches both by word and letter (as summarized in the NT documents) must be both received and maintained in its doctrinal purity in order for the ongoing Church to continue as a legible heir to the apostolic faith.

So there is no mandate by the apostles themselves for apostolic succession, but rather the establishing and admonishing of elders and deacons and teachers so that the Church may contend for the faith which was "once and for all delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3b).


Why did God need to send forth apostles in the first place?

The answer is found in 2 Corinthians 3. Paul there defends his apostolic ministry. And in doing so, he gets into a compare/contrast of the old covenant with the new covenant:

Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end.
2 Cor. 3:7-13

What is remarkable is that Paul draws a direct line of connection between the role of Moses in the old covenant and the role of the apostles in the new covenant. Moses was the mediating inaugurator of the old covenant. He went up to the mountain and received teachings directly from, before the very presence of YHWH, and then he in turn delivered these teachings to the people who themselves could not even touch that mountain lest they die. And Moses' face reflected a glory, since he was just before the Glory-presence of YHWH.

Paul is saying that they apostles, as ministrators of the new covenant, behold, mediate, and deliver a greater glory in the ministry of the Spirit among them. It would be quite arrogant for Paul to simply trump Moses' ministry for the sake of winning the loyalty of the Church. No, Paul understood exactly what God was accomplishing through the apostles' ministry: the receiving and delivering of the glory of the new covenant promised in the prophets of old.

So Paul says of the apostles "we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face". The obvious conclusion is if anyone wishes to behold the unveiled glory of God in Christ, they must receive the teachings of those apostles. And like Moses, the only covenant mediator who did not appoint other covenant mediators for an ongoing succession, so the apostles stand as mediators at the inauguration of the new and better covenant, having beheld with their own eyes of flesh the unveiled glory of God in the risen Christ.