The Fivefold Ministry (Ephesians 4) · Apostle
The apostle — sent to lay foundations and break new ground
ἀπόστολος
apostolos · a sent one, an emissary · from ἀποστέλλω, to send forth with a commission
a sent one — commissioned to lay foundations and extend the Kingdom
Apostolos (ἀπόστολος) is the Greek word the Bible uses for an apostle; it means a sent one, an emissary dispatched with a commission and authority, from apostellō, to send forth with a commission.
When the ascended Christ gave gifts to His church, the first He named was the apostle — the sent one. The word means an emissary dispatched with a commission and authority, an ambassador of the One who sends. The Twelve and Paul were apostles in a unique, foundational, unrepeatable sense; yet the New Testament also sends others, and a pioneering, foundation-laying ministry continues. Whatever else it is, apostleship is never self-made authority — it is a sending, under the Sent One Himself.
One word · a sent one
The Greek ἀπόστολος comes from ἀποστέλλω, to send forth with authority — an envoy, an ambassador, a commissioned emissary. The accent is on the sending: the apostle represents the One who sent him and carries His authority, not his own. Jesus Himself is called “the Apostle and High Priest of our confession” (Heb 3:1) — the Sent One above all.
In Ephesians 4 the apostle is the first of the equipping ministries Christ gave “to equip the saints for the work of ministry” (4:11–12). The Twelve and Paul hold a unique, unrepeatable place — eyewitnesses of the risen Lord, the church’s foundation (Eph 2:20). Yet Scripture also calls others “sent ones,” and the apostolic work of pioneering and founding goes on.
A sent one under the Sent One; the unique foundational apostles; a wider company of sent ones; the apostolic work of building; and the equipping of the saints.
Apostleship flows from the sending of Jesus.
καθὼς ἀπέσταλκέν με ὁ πατήρ, κἀγὼ πέμπω ὑμᾶς
kathōs apestalken me … kagō pempō hymas
as the Father has sent Me, even so I send you.
All Christian sending is derived. The Father sent the Son; the Son sends His own. So the apostle never holds self-made authority — he is sent, accountable to the One who sends, carrying a commission, not a crown.
The Twelve and Paul — unique and unrepeatable.
ἐποικοδομηθέντες ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν
… epi tō themeliō tōn apostolōn kai prophētōn
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus the cornerstone.
The first apostles were eyewitnesses of the risen Lord (Acts 1:21–22; 1 Cor 9:1; 15:8) who laid the church’s foundation once for all. Their doctrine is settled in Scripture; no one adds to it. A foundation is laid only once.
Scripture sends others too.
… ἀπόστολοι ἐκκλησιῶν, δόξα Χριστοῦ
… apostoloi ekklēsiōn …
…they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ.
Beyond the Twelve, the word reaches further: Barnabas (Acts 14:14), Andronicus and Junia (Rom 16:7), Epaphroditus (Phil 2:25), James (Gal 1:19). The New Testament knows a wider sense of sent ones — and with it, an ongoing sending.
Pioneering, founding, fathering, building.
ὡς σοφὸς ἀρχιτέκτων θεμέλιον ἔθηκα
hōs sophos architektōn themelion ethēka
as a wise master builder I laid a foundation.
The apostolic ministry breaks new ground — preaching “not where Christ was already named” (Rom 15:20), planting churches, fathering believers through the gospel (1 Cor 4:15), establishing what others will build upon. It is frontier and foundation work.
Given for the whole body's maturity.
πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν τῶν ἁγίων εἰς ἔργον διακονίας
pros ton katartismon tōn hagiōn …
to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.
Like all five ministries, apostles are not a super-class who do the ministry for the church; they equip the saints to do it — “until we all attain to the unity of the faith … to mature manhood, the fullness of Christ” (4:13). The aim is the body grown up.
Paul warned of “false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ” (2 Cor 11:13), and Jesus commended a church for testing “those who call themselves apostles and are not” (Rev 2:2). The counterfeit grasps the title for authority, control, and money. Yet the opposite error is to despise genuine sent ones. The mark of the true apostle is the cross.
… ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀποστόλους ἐσχάτους ἀπέδειξεν ὡς ἐπιθανατίους
… tous apostolous eschatous … hōs epithanatious
…God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death.
True apostleship looks like Jesus: servanthood, suffering, weakness, no lording it over (2 Cor 12:9–10). So test every “apostle” not by charisma or title but by the cross, by sound doctrine, and by humble, accountable service. The grasping, controlling “apostle” is the forgery.
So honor the sending without inflating the title. Whatever apostolic ministry continues today is a derived, accountable, cross-shaped commission — sent under the Sent One, building on the foundation the first apostles laid, never replacing or rivaling it. Its whole aim is not a platform but a people: the saints equipped, the Kingdom extended, the body of Christ built up toward His fullness.
JOHN 20:21 · THE SENDING
καθὼς ἀπέσταλκέν με ὁ πατήρ, κἀγὼ πέμπω ὑμᾶς
As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you.
Christ gave apostles to equip the saints, until we all reach the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:12–13). The sending is His; the foundation is laid; the glory is His alone.
Believers differ sharply here. The foundational apostles — the Twelve and Paul — were unique, unrepeatable eyewitnesses of the risen Christ, the church’s once-for-all foundation (Eph 2:20); their writings are Scripture, and no one adds to them. On that, all should agree. Whether an “apostolic” ministry continues today (pioneering church-planters and missionaries) is debated: many cessationists say the office ceased; many continuationists, including this tradition, recognize an ongoing apostolic function — while never equating it with the foundational apostles or granting it Scripture-level authority.
A serious caution either way: beware self-appointed “apostles” who use the title to claim unchallengeable authority, demand submission, or control people and money. The word means sent and serving, not ruling. Genuine apostleship is cross-shaped, accountable, and wholly submitted to Scripture — and it is tested, as Jesus commended (Rev 2:2), not simply believed.
The whole meaning hangs on one word: sent. Apostleship is never self-originated authority; it flows from the Father sending the Son and the Son sending us (John 20:21). A sent one represents the Sender, carries His commission, and answers to Him — which makes humility and accountability essential to the calling. Anyone who wields “apostle” as a claim to rule rather than a commission to serve has misunderstood the word.
The foundational apostles laid the church’s foundation once for all, with Christ as the cornerstone (Eph 2:20), and their doctrine is fixed in Scripture. Whatever apostolic ministry continues today builds on that foundation — it never replaces, rivals, or adds to it. So the test of every “apostle” is the apostles’ own teaching (Acts 2:42): does this person’s message and life agree with the New Testament, and exalt Jesus? If not, the title means nothing.
| Theme | Key texts |
|---|---|
| A sent one | Eph 4:11; Heb 3:1; John 20:21; Luke 6:13 |
| The foundation | Eph 2:20; Acts 1:21–22; 1 Cor 9:1; 15:7–9 |
| A wider company | Acts 14:14; Rom 16:7; Phil 2:25; Gal 1:19 |
| The apostolic work | 1 Cor 3:10; Rom 15:20; 1 Cor 4:15; 2 Cor 12:12 |
| Tested & cross-shaped | 2 Cor 11:13; Rev 2:2; 1 Cor 4:9–13 |