Are there apostles today?
Question 09012
The claim that there are apostles in the church today is made with increasing confidence by leaders within the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and related charismatic movements. Some go so far as to insist that the church cannot function properly without a restored apostolic office carrying governmental authority over other churches and leaders. This is a claim that requires careful examination, because the answer affects how we understand church authority, accountability, and the sufficiency of Scripture.
What Made Someone an Apostle?
The New Testament identifies specific qualifications for the apostolic office that are, by their nature, unrepeatable. An apostle of Jesus Christ was someone who had been personally commissioned by the risen Christ and who had been a witness of His resurrection. Peter made this explicit when the eleven sought a replacement for Judas: the candidate had to have been with them “during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us” and must become “a witness to his resurrection” (Acts 1:21-22). Paul defended his own apostleship on the same grounds, insisting that he had “seen Jesus our Lord” (1 Corinthians 9:1) and that the risen Christ had appeared to him (1 Corinthians 15:8), which he described as “last of all, as to one untimely born,” strongly implying that his commissioning was the final such appearance.
The apostles also possessed a unique authority to receive and communicate divine revelation that would become the foundation of the church. Ephesians 2:20 describes the church as “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.” A foundation is laid once. It is not re-laid in every generation. The apostles were foundational figures whose role in the church’s establishment was unique, authoritative, and complete.
The New Apostolic Reformation Claim
The NAR, associated with figures such as C. Peter Wagner, Bill Johnson, and others, teaches that God is restoring the office of apostle to the church in the present day. These modern apostles are said to carry governmental authority over networks of churches, receive fresh revelation, and exercise a level of spiritual authority that other church leaders do not possess. The movement has grown significantly since the late twentieth century and now influences a substantial segment of global charismatic Christianity.
The problems with this claim are substantial. The qualifications that defined the original apostles, personal encounter with the risen Christ and eyewitness testimony to His resurrection, cannot be met today. No living person has seen the risen Jesus in the way the original apostles did. Paul’s description of himself as the last to be so commissioned (1 Corinthians 15:8) explicitly closes the door on further apostolic appointments of this kind. The NAR’s response is typically to redefine apostleship in terms of function (church planting, leadership, vision-casting) rather than the New Testament’s criteria. But redefining the term does not restore the office. It creates a new category and attaches an old label to it, with all the authority the old label implies.
The Wider Use of “Apostle” in the New Testament
It should be acknowledged that the New Testament uses apostolos in a broader sense than the Twelve plus Paul. Barnabas is called an apostle (Acts 14:14). James the Lord’s brother functioned in an apostolic capacity. Epaphroditus is described as an apostolos of the Philippian church (Philippians 2:25), though most translations render this as “messenger” because the context makes clear it refers to a delegate sent by the church, not an apostle in the foundational sense. The word apostolos itself simply means “one who is sent,” and in its broader usage it can refer to church-sent missionaries and delegates.
This broader usage does not, however, support the NAR’s claim. The distinction between the foundational apostles and the broader category of sent ones is visible within the New Testament itself. Paul’s defence of his apostleship in the Corinthian letters demonstrates that the title carried unique authority that not everyone possessed, and the qualifications he cited were specific and non-transferable. The existence of missionaries and church planters who are “sent” by local churches is entirely biblical and does not require the restoration of an apostolic office with unique governmental and revelatory authority.
Why This Matters
The practical consequences of the NAR’s apostolic claims are significant and often damaging. When a leader claims apostolic authority, they place themselves above normal accountability structures. They can claim that their vision, direction, or even doctrinal pronouncements carry an authority that other leaders and the congregation are not in a position to question. This is precisely the kind of unaccountable leadership that the New Testament warns against. Diotrephes, “who likes to put himself first” (3 John 9), is the cautionary tale of a leader who claimed a level of authority the apostle John found it necessary to challenge.
The sufficiency of Scripture is also at stake. If modern apostles receive fresh revelation, then the canon of Scripture is effectively open, even if NAR leaders would not put it in those terms. The practical effect of claiming prophetic and apostolic authority for contemporary pronouncements is to place those pronouncements alongside, or even above, the written Word of God. This is incompatible with the Protestant commitment to sola Scriptura and with the closure of the canon.
So, now what?
Be grateful for the apostolic foundation that has been laid. The church does not need new apostles. It needs faithful pastors, teachers, evangelists, and church planters who build on the foundation that was laid once for all. When someone claims apostolic authority today, test the claim against the New Testament’s own criteria. Eyewitness of the risen Christ? Personal commission from Jesus? Ability to perform the “signs of a true apostle” (2 Corinthians 12:12)? If these are absent, the claim, however sincerely made, does not hold. The church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, and that foundation is secure. What we need now is not a new foundation but faithful building on the one already in place.
“Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.” Ephesians 2:20 (ESV)