An Apostle of Jesus Christ

Eph. 1:1

Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians with this description of who he is. He is “an apostle of Jesus Christ”. In this lesson we are going to study who are the apostles in the Bible? We can easily locate the names of the twelve apostles that the Lord named, but Paul was not one of those. Who were some other apostles?

[Rev.21:14] Lets begin with the “twelve apostles of the Lamb”

 Apostles listed in [Matt.10:2-4] and [Mark 3:14-19].

1. Simon – who is called Peter
2. Andrew – his brother
3. James – the son of Zebedee
4. John – his brother
5. Philip
6. Bartholomew
7. Thomas
8. Matthew – the publican
9. James – the son of Alphaeus
10. Lebbaeus – whose surname was Thaddaeus
11. Simon – the Canaanite
12. Judas Iscariot

   Apostles listed in [Luke 6:13-16] and [Acts 1:13, no Judas Iscariot].

1. Simon – whom he also named Peter
2. Andrew – his brother
3. James
4. John
5. Philip
6. Bartholomew
7. Matthew
8. Thomas
9. James – the son of Alphaeus
10. Simon – called Zelotes
11. Judas – brother of James [John 14:22]
12. Judas Iscariot

Some claim that the King James Bible has error because of this one apostle, Lebbaeus, or Thaddaeus, or Judas. So, is this one man or two? It is really very simple because in all four places in scripture that the apostles are listed, eleven are the same and no one has a problem with it.  Judas, brother of James goes by three names – Judas, Lebbaeus, and Thaddaeus, just like Peter went by three names, Simon [Jn.1:40,41], Peter [Matt.4:18], and Cephas [Jn.1:42,1Cor.9:5].

As we will see next as they replace Judas Iscariot one of the men in consideration has three names, [Acts 1:23]. I believe that the book of Jude was written by the apostle Judas, brother of James because of [Jude 1], and James, Peter, and John, all written by apostles whose name they bear.

[Acts 1:15-26] They needed to replace Judas Iscariot. Required was to be present during the ministry of Jesus from the baptism of John [Matt.3:13-17] to the Lord’s ascension [Acts 1:2,9]. They cast lots and Matthias was numbered with the eleven. These twelve men are the apostles of the Lamb and will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel [Matt.19:27-28], and are the foundation spoke of in [Eph.2:20] and [Rev.21:14].

New Testament Apostles

[Gal.1:1] Paul was an apostle by Jesus Christ, not chosen by man!

[Acts 14:14] Barnabas was an apostle also

[Gal.1:15-19] James the Lord’s brother was an apostle

[Acts 15:22] Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas were apostles

[1Cor.1:12, 3:4-6,22] Apollos was probably an apostle

The Signs of an Apostle [2Cor.12:12]

[Matt.10:1,8] Power over unclean spirits, healing, etc.

[Acts 5:14-16] Very powerful

[Acts 19:11-12] Paul had special miracles

[1Tim.5:23, 2Tim.4:20] The signs were coming to an end

[1Cor.1:22] Jews required a sign to believe

We see now that the Lord chose the twelve apostles of the Lamb and used them as the foundation of our faith. After the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ God used apostles of the New Testament to preach the gospel. There are no apostles or signs needed today because we are called to be ambassadors for Christ [2Cor.5:20] in His stead. We have His Word, the written testament of the apostles to share with a sinful and dying world. Read it, believe it, and share it.