Several groups that claim affiliation with the Christian religion allege to have apostles among them, including Catholicism, Mormonism, and some Pentecostal groups. For instance, about a year and a half ago, the Mormon church named three men to leadership positions in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — the church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Apostles in the New Testament were men chosen to preach after Jesus ascended into Heaven. In 2 Corinthians 12:12, Paul was explaining to the Corinthians his validations for apostleship. The qualifications included:
- Seeing the Lord and being an eyewitness to His resurrection (Acts 1:22; 1 Corinthians 9:1).
- Being invested with miraculous powers (Acts 5:15-16; Hebrews 2:3-4).
- Being chosen by the Lord or the Holy Spirit (Matthew 10:1-2; Acts 1:26).
Apostles were given miraculous gifts (Acts 2:4; 2 Corinthians 12:12) and were inspired to write the Bible (Ephesians 3:3-5; 2 Peter 1:21). But once God’s revelation was finished, there was no further need to keep revealing God’s will. Therefore, we do not have apostles today. Paul said that miraculous gifts, including inspiration, would stop (1 Corinthians 13:8-10). Also, Paul said that one of the requirements of an apostle is that they had seen the Lord (1 Corinthians 9:1). Mormon “apostles” cannot make that claim. Mormons claim to restore the New Testament church, but they merely masquerade a false religion for the true one. No person living today can meet the qualifications given in scripture for being an apostle.
No one living today has been an eyewitness of Christ’s resurrection. Christ has selected no one living today for the apostolic role. No one living today possesses the miraculous capabilities of an apostle. We should not be surprised that people would falsely claim to be apostles. Jesus warned that false prophets would come in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they would be ravening wolves (Matthew 7:15).
Kyle Campbell
