WHAT IS AN APOSTLE
1. The word “apostle“ (in Greek apóstolos) means: one that is sent; normally it is interpreted like “one envoy to expire with a special function in the church”.
2. The first mention of the title appears at the beginning of Jesus's department: Lucas 6:12-13: In those days he went to the mount to pray, and happened the night praying to God. And when it was day, it called his disciples, and chose twelve of them, which also it called apostles (be seen Mateo 10:1-4 and Frames 3:13-19). It is a question of a new and distinctive call on the part of Jesus Christ. He was not a called general opened for anyone, but extremely specific and particular. Including Pablo, who refers to himself as “the last one and the smallest of the apostles” (1 Corinthian 15:7-9)
3. Convinced that the number of twelve apostles was important, after the death and ascension of Jesus, the eleven that were staying met in Jerusalem (Facts 1:12-26) to choose the successor of Judas Iscariote. They chose Matías. In the process, they specified carefully the requisites to be an apostle:
• It had to coexist with the twelve from Jesus's baptism.
• He had to be a witness of the death and Jesus's ascension.
• He had to be a witness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In 2 Corinthian ones 12:12 another requisite of a real apostle is mentioned: the signs autenticadoras – “Between you produced the signs of a real apostle, with all perseverance, by means of signs, prodigies and miracles.” These signs were done by the apostles to confirm the truth of the gospel and to give testimony of Christ's resurrection of which they were witnesses and were preaching like something essential; and also there were proper and particular signs of the real apostles (Facts 2:43; 14:3; Hebrews 2:3 and 4) that put the foundation of the church once and for all.
4. It is interesting to observe that when Jesus Christ calls Saulo of Tarsus (since this one had not enjoyed the same experiences as the first twelve), it did it by means of a special appearance; also, it gave him three years of special revelation in the desert of Arabia (Gálatas 1:11-19), and a particular commission so that he was an apostle to the gentiles (Gálatas 1:1; Facts 22:17-21; 26:16-18; 1 Corinthian 9:1; 15:8).
The God's Word teaches neither the apostolic succession, nor the existence of contemporary prophets as it is taught by the Roman Catholic Church and International Coalition of Apostles (ICA).



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