Cheryl

Here are my answers to your wonderful thoughts and questions –

Don: Recall that there were 70 sent out at one point and being sent out by Jesus meant that this group met one criterion for being “sent-out ones” or apostles.

True, but they were not the foundational apostles endued with authority for the foundation of the church. The 70 were sent ahead of Jesus to prepare the way for him while the 12 apostles were to be witnesses of Jesus’ miracles, his death, resurrection and ascension. They were given the authority to establish doctrine. Was Paul just one of the one’s sent to prepare the way for Jesus, or was he one of the ones who had authority for the foundation of the church and to establish doctrine?

Don: Paul never claims to be one of the 12.

While Paul did not say the words that he was one of the 12, he did claim to be one of the same group as the twelve. The 12 were set apart by Jesus for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for testifying of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Paul also claimed that he was set aside by Jesus Christ for a witness to the resurrected Lord Jesus.

Act 4:33 And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.

Rom 1:1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
Rom 1:2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,

1Co 15:6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;
1Co 15:7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;
1Co 15:8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.

1Co 9:1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?

He claimed to be equal with the 12, 2 Cor. 12:11.

2Co 12:11 I have become foolish; you yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been commended by you, for in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I am a nobody.

The claims of Paul that he was equal to the highest of the apostles, chosen by Jesus himself to be a witness to the resurrection and he was responsible for establishing doctrine. No other apostle other than the 12 were given these responsibilities or made these claims.

2Co 12:11 I have become foolish; you yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been commended by you, for in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I am a nobody.

He claimed to be among the apostles of Jesus who were given special miracles as a sign of the gospel of the resurrection of Christ that they proclaimed.

Act 2:43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.

Act 19:11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,

Lastly Paul called himself by the name given to the 12 – the apostle of Jesus Christ. It is the same name used of James and Peter

Jas 1:1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
1Pe 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
Jud 1:1 Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ
1Co 1:1 Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God
1Ti 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope,

No other apostle is said in scripture to call themselves an apostle or bond-servant of Jesus Christ except for the 12 who had the authority to speak for Jesus.

Don: Someone today might have a vision or Paul-like experience and see Jesus and become an apostle but that does not mean they are one of the 12.

An apostle today doesn’t have to see Jesus. The original 12 needed to be witnesses to the resurrected Christ. Paul said that he went to the third heaven and he saw the resurrected man Jesus. He was indeed a witness to the resurrection as was needed to be one of the 12.

Paula: I see an important issue with the choosing of Matthias as what Peter said in vs. 21-22, that it had to be someone who was with them from John’s baptism to Jesus’ ascension. Paul could not possibly qualify for that. And this was all Peter’s doing, not the group’s.

This was Peter’s qualification, yet the scriptures clearly show that the purpose of the 12 was to be witnesses to the resurrection. Paul was taught by the resurrected Jesus and saw him in his resurrected body so he qualifies as a witness to the resurrection.

Paula: Then they first prayed for God to direct the choice between two proposed candidates, and only then cast the lot. Lot casting of course was a legitimate method of finding the will of God in OT times, and at this early stage there was no other method, as the Holy Spirit had not yet come.

While the Holy Spirit had not yet been poured out, they had received the Holy Spirit through Jesus:
Joh 20:22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

I disagree that casting lots was their only way to hear from God since they had the Holy Spirit already given to them.

Paula: Paul, per his own words, was the apostle to the Gentiles, whereas the 12 were to the Jews. And he was uniquely commissioned to reveal the mystery, that is, the unity of Jew and Gentile into one Body. So his mission was entirely different from that of the 12.

All of the apostle’s mission was to be a witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus so Paul’s mission was not different than the others. While Paul specialized in the Gentiles and Peter specialized in the Jews, Paul always went to the Jews first and Peter was sent to the Gentiles by the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:22) Who were the other apostles sent to? They were all sent to the Jews and the Gentiles. Paul said it was to the Jew first and then the Gentiles. We cannot separate Paul from the other apostles in the ones that they went to because they all went to both Jew and Gentile and they all had the same mission.

The questions we need to ponder and then answer are concerning Paul’s apostleship:

Did Jesus personally ordain Paul as his apostle?
Did Paul receive teaching from the resurrected Lord Jesus?
Did Paul claim to have authority given to him by Jesus Christ?
Did Paul shows signs of his apostleship?

The other apostles did not need to show signs of their apostleship and they did not have authority to establish doctrine.

If we reject Paul as one of the foundational 12 apostles, we would need to agree that:
Paul did not have the authority that was granted the 12 apostles. His authority was not equal to theirs but we see something different in the scriptures as Paul actually had a greater authority in establishing doctrine than they did and he received more revelations then they did.

If Paul was just an ordinary apostle but not one of the special 12 set aside as witnesses to the resurrection, then Paul was not different than all the other secondary apostles and shouldn’t have needed to prove his apostleship just as they were never said to prove their apostleship.

I believe that Paul has proven that he was one of the apostles of the Lord Jesus ordained to be a witness to the resurrection. He had the authority of Jesus Christ to establish doctrine and he did this more than any of the other apostles.

That’s about all that I need say on this subject especially since I must get back to video editing and keep my nose in it for a time.

I appreciate all of your opinions and your well thought-out reasoning. Each one of us can now go to scripture and search for ourselves which one of the two was the true 12th apostle of Jesus Christ appointed as a witness to the resurrection as was the mandate of all the twelve apostles.

It has been a stimulating discussion and if anyone has anything more to say, I will let you have the last word. My last word is here from Paul himself:

1Co 9:2 If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.