"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ."
Paul is talking about offices in the church (with their accompanying gifts) that are to equip the church body for the work of ministry. The question that arises is whether the office of Apostle or Prophet should be in operation today? Did they serve their purpose in the 1st century and become extinct?
Briefly, I believe Apostles were unique to the 1st century because of their qualifications. When Judas defected, the rest of the Apostles wanted a replacement and the criteria for that office would eliminate everyone of us today - they had to have followed Jesus from the time of His baptism and had to be an eye-witness of His resurrection (Acts 1:21-22; 1 Cor. 9:1).
What about a prophet? Is that for the church today? Yes and no. Scripture level prophecy, add it to your Bible kind of prophecy, no! The canon of scripture is closed, but a prophecy given to a particular person, group of people, or a local church, yes!
Sound crazy? Listen to my sermon on Feb. 21 "Body Building - Doing Church" to hear more. If you would like to read more on the subject, click here to see what Sam Storms and what John Piper have to say.
