Part 5
Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother
1 Cor 1:1 KJV
Why was Paul called to be an Apostle? Paul was a representative of the Church; he was sent by the Church to the nations that were yet to hear the Gospel of Christ so that they also might become partakers of the blessings of God in Christ Jesus. He was a commissioned ambassador to lay the foundation of the Church among the Gentiles. He was thus commissioned to carry out the ministry of the Church among the Gentiles. The reason he was sent was because the Church was mandated by the Lord to continue His ministry, beyond the Jewish nation, to the Gentiles. Therefore, the Church is Apostolic in calling.
To be Apostolic is to be under and have authority to teach the knowledge of one recognized as Lord to a people in order to bring them under the same authority. It usually implies that the nature of the work is pioneering. In the Old Testament, Moses received the authority to bring the knowledge of God to the Egyptian nation that did not know God. The nature of Apostleship is more clearly seen when the bearer of this authority is sent to a nation other than his own. Thus, Moses and Jonah were good examples of this Apostolic types in the Old Testament. Therefore, Apostleship is to a nation that is previously ignorant of the Lordship of the one whom the bearer represents.
Saul of Tarsus was an apostle of a sort because he received authority of the Sanhedrin to compel the Christians to renounce their beliefs and return to Judaism. This is just to paint a picture for our understanding of this Apostolic calling. He was an apostle of Judaism, though the method he used was completely different from the one he later represented after he had received the light of Christ Jesus.
Now on the Mount of Olive, the Apostles received this authority from the Lord to whom belonged ALL AUTHORITY. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matt 28:18-20 NIV
Notice that those who received this commission, were those He had called to be with Him that He might send them out, and had designated them as Apostles. Now, they were commissioned to ‘GO.’ Going was at the heart of their calling. They were not called to sit and stay in a place; Christ’s underlying intention was for them to be a ‘going’ people. Their call was to make disciples for Him. Notice that they began in Jerusalem (not their home town for they were men of Galilee), and ended in nations scattered all over the earth.
The import of what we are establishing is this, that the Church has a foundation that is Apostolic (Eph 2:20).
To make it even clearer, the Apostolic Church is a Missions Church. Missions is what we call the Apostolic effort of the Church. It is the ministry of the Church to advance and establish the Kingdom of God beyond where it already exists. Paul made it clear when he said
“It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation” Rom 15:20 NIV. Anything could be a mission if it has a purpose and distance, but the Biblical Missions and the Apostles’ Missions is to preach the Gospel where Christ has not been preached. It is to use the authority of the Lord to bring men and women of other nations (ethnic groups) to the obedience of Christ.
Then, if this is the calling of the Church, every believer ought to carry the same mindset. We must go about our businesses with this understanding even though not all of us will actually go to the unreached nations. The Church must deliberately trust God for men and women who will go, as they are called by the Holy Spirit, and send them. Those who remain at home must also have their eyes on the fields of Missions (the Unreached peoples) by providing support and prayer and all forms of encouragements for the sent ones. This is the Apostolic (Missionary) mandate of the Church. In this sense we can say that ‘all Christians are missionaries’ (because they are playing a part in the Apostolic mandate of the Church which we have described above). Let us not fall victims of the lie of the Devil that we are all missionaries, yet we are not intentional about the nations that are yet unreached with the gospel. Many Christians have been convinced or taught that they are missionaries, yet they are totally unaware of any efforts, whether of their local Churches or their own personal commitment to some ministries or missionaries that are involved in reaching the unreached people.
Let us state again as we summarize: The Church has an Apostolic mandate, a pioneering effort that is aimed at bringing the unreached nations (ethnic groups) to the obedience (Lordship) of Christ by word and deed.