How many of us can define what an apostle is, identify the need for apostolic fathering, or articulate the biblical hallmarks of an apostolic people?
Romans 1:1-6
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;
To understand apostolic fathering for an apostolic people like the first-century church, we must first understand what an apostle is, and how this understanding shapes the apostle’s expression of the tangible Fatherhood of God to His sons within the framework of the Covenant of Abraham.
Building on N.T. Wright’s short exposition (video embedded below), an apostle is called to be the embodiment of the Covenant faithfulness of God and the expression of the obedience of faith as defined within the framework of the Covenant of God with Abraham. The apostle’s mission is to bring about the same embodiment of the Covenant faithfulness of God and expression of the obedience of faith amongst the peoples of the earth through the framework of God’s Covenant with Abraham.
We will understand this definition better when we look at Jesus Christ, the Chief Apostle, as the model for all apostles later.
Let us break down some key concepts here.
If reconciliation means making one compatible, consistent, and congruous with another, then reconciling man to God means making one’s embodied life and mission compatible, consistent, and congruous with God’s embodied life and mission. In other words, as a result of the process of reconciliation, man becomes the embodiment of all that God embodies when he faithfully assimilates and obeys all that God embodies in the Spirit of holiness.
Hence, based on our definitions, an apostle is called, first, to embody all that God embodies according to the framework of God’s Covenant with Abraham through faithful assimilation and obedience, and then bring others to embody all that God embodies according to the framework of God’s Covenant with Abraham through faithful assimilation and obedience as well. This is the ministry of reconciliation that has been given to apostles (c.f. Romans 5:11; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19).
Galatians 3:6-9
Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.
It is important to note that the ministry of reconciliation is TO God THROUGH the framework of God’s Covenant with Abraham – in which the Messiah is the foundation stone – because the gospel was first preached by God to Abraham, and this gospel became the basis of God’s salvific Covenant through him.
Genesis 17:1-2
Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”
The Covenant faithfulness of God speaks of God’s faithfulness to every iota of the conditions and promises that define the Covenant that He made with Abraham. In other words, the Covenant faithfulness of God is the faithfulness of God towards His own holy nature, moral character, and unchangeableness that undergird the framework of terms, conditions, stipulations, and promises in the Covenant He made with Abraham through an oath. He will faithfully guard and execute this Covenant framework for the sake of His holy name without partiality.
To embody God’s Covenant faithfulness is to embody all that God embodies of Himself in His Covenant with Abraham; for God is always faithful to the “I Am Who I Am” who enacted the Covenant.
In other words, when we become the embodiment of God’s Covenant faithfulness, we become the exact representation of God’s Covenant faithfulness in His stead, and we will act as God would act in all faithfulness to Him.
Therefore, when we embody God’s Covenant faithfulness, we become the faithful imager, expression, and executor of God’s holy nature, moral character, and unchangeableness that undergird His Covenant with Abraham; just as Elijah did when he said, “As the LORD, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” (1 Kings 17:1); or just as Paul said, “Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.” (1 Timothy 1:20)
The framework of the Covenant of God with Abraham are the terms, conditions, stipulations, and promises that constitute the Covenant, to which both God and Abraham (or his subsequent inheritors) must faithfully honour and abide themselves for the execution of the Covenant in the Spirit of holiness.
This framework can be summed up as follows: “I am God Almighty; walk before Me and be blameless.” In other words, “I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and do not miss the mark of who I am in identity, what I embody as holy, and how I express Myself in full array of thoughts, emotions, and ways.”
Every scripture that reveals the holy nature, moral character, righteous ways, universal truths, sovereign will, and good pleasure, especially the commandments, conditions, and promises governing the Covenant, will constitute as the framework of the Covenant of God with Abraham.
Thus, the Covenant faithfulness of God, that is, “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly”, is predicated on the antecedent command to “walk before Me, and be blameless”, that is, to walk without missing the mark of what God embodies, represents, stipulates, and promises within the framework of His Covenant with Abraham.
When we embody God’s Covenant faithfulness, we become faithful in abiding by the framework of the Covenant blamelessly just as God is faithful in abiding by the framework of the Covenant Himself; and we become faithful in executing and enforcing the framework of the Covenant without missing the mark just as God is faithful in executing and enforcing the framework of the Covenant just like God is faithful in executing and enforcing the framework of the Covenant Himself; all for the sake of His holy name.
Therefore, as the “sent representative” (“apostolos”) to express the Fatherhood and Covenant faithfulness of God, an apostle is the faithful imager and executor of the Covenant faithfulness of God, as well as the faithful expression of obedience of faith, without missing the mark of the framework of the Covenant of God with Abraham.
We can see God’s Covenant faithfulness to the framework of His Covenant with Abraham in action throughout history in scriptures.
From Moses, to Samuel, to David, to Elijah, to Jesus, and to the Twelve and Paul, we can see the grace of apostleship embodied by them and expressed through them for God’s people to experience the tangible Fatherhood and Covenant faithfulness of God according to the framework of His Covenant with Abraham, even in chastisement and judgment, so as to bring about the same obedience and embodiment among God’s people.
Jesus, the Chief and Model Apostle
Hebrews 3:1-2
Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession; He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house.
Jesus the Christ was the preeminent Apostle, a model for all other apostles to emulate. Just as Jesus was faithful in the Father’s house, Moses was faithful in all His house; and just as Jesus was given the ministry of reconciling people to the framework of the Abrahamic Covenant with God, apostles are given the ministry of reconciling people to the framework of the Abrahamic Covenant with God as well (c.f. Romans 5:11; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21).
Jesus was obedient to the framework of the Covenant of God with Abraham, and did not miss the mark even unto death, hence He was the faithful imager and executor of God’s Covenant faithfulness, just like God Himself is faithful to Himself in executing the full authority and power of the Covenant. Thus, as Apostle, Jesus embodied and expressed God’s Covenant faithfulness in the likeness of human flesh; and as Apostle, He was the image of the invisible God and the exact representation of God’s nature (c.f. Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3).
2 Corinthians 10:5-6
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.
This is the reason why Jesus, as Apostle, could punish all disobedience in the heavens and on the earth and under the earth in His human body. This is also the reason why Jesus, when He commissioned the apostles, could say (paraphrased), “All authority of the Father over heaven and earth, according to His faithfulness to His Covenant with Abraham, has been given to Me; therefore go and make disciples of all peoples to be like Me, immersing them into all that the Father’s family name represents, and teaching them to walk blamelessly in all the commandments of the Covenant which God embodies and executes in all faithfulness to His own holiness that undergirds His Covenant with Abraham.” (c.f. Matthew 28:19-20)
Can you fathom that Jesus Christ is the model Apostle for all apostles appointed by Him? Can you comprehend the fact that Paul the apostle was faithfully walking in the image and likeness of the model Apostle?
Indeed, attaining to “the measure (or standard) of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13) is the appointed attainment for all apostles who are appointed by the chief and model Apostle.
Until the obedience of the apostle is complete (“plēroō” or made full) like Christ, from commandment to commandment and taking the Covenant as a whole, he cannot be the complete embodiment of God’s Covenant faithfulness in imaging and executing the full authority and power of the Covenant in Christ’s stead, and he will not have the full measure of power to take every thought captive in renewing the minds of disciples for their transformation in the image of Christ.
This will lead to the body of Christ – the ekklesia on earth – being unable to punish all disobedience, as the apostle is only ready to punish all disobedience in the full authority and power of Christ and God’s Covenant faithfulness when the obedience of their disciples functioning together as the embodiment of Christ’s body and expressions of God’s Covenant faithfulness is complete.
Model Apostle is Building His Church through Modelled Apostles
So, how can we build the church that Jesus is building, against which no gates of hell can prevail, and which has the full authority and power to execute the Covenant faithfulness of God to Abraham on earth as it is in heaven, such that all who bless us will be blessed, and all who curse us will be cursed, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in us? (c.f. Matthew 16:18-19; Genesis 12:1-3)
1 Corinthians 11:1
Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
It starts with understanding the calling, sanctification, and stature of the apostle as the faithful embodiment of God’s Covenant faithfulness as well as the faithful expression of obedience without missing the mark of the framework of the Covenant of God with Abraham in the Spirit of holiness, just like Jesus Christ when He was walking in the flesh and blood.
Ephesians 4:11-13
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 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.
Then, working together with the other fivefold ministries, the apostle must make true disciples of Christ who will also be the faithful embodiment of God’s Covenant faithfulness as well as the faithful expression of blameless obedience according to the framework of the Covenant of God with Abraham, being imitators of the apostle and other fivefold ministries as well as Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 9:1-2
Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 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.
Apostles must have the seal of Christ’s Apostleship in their lives, and apostolic people or church must have the seal of their apostolic father’s apostleship in their lives. These apostolic seals are defined by embodiment and expression of the Covenant faithfulness of God in the image of Christ, not by “apostolic” messages from the pulpit or “apostolic” dominion through politics.
1 Corinthians 4:17
For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.
True apostolic people embody the life and ministry of true apostles, whose life and ministry embody the life and ministry of the true Christ. In other words, when we look at an apostolic people, it will remind us of the ways of their appointed apostle, and when we look at the apostle, it will remind us of the ways of Jesus Christ. This is the true seals of apostleship.
Can you imagine what will happen when we attain to the full stature of “like Father like Jesus, like Jesus like apostle, and like apostle like apostolic people”?
Surely, against such apostolic churches the gates of hell cannot overcome, regardless of whether they are the Anti-Christ, beasts, cabalistic enemies, etc.
Surely, the keys of the Kingdom will be given to such apostolic churches, such that whatever we bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever we loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (c.f. Matthew 16:18-19).
Surely, those who bless us will be blessed, and those who curse us will be cursed when we embody God’s Covenant faithfulness and express faithful obedience to the framework of the Covenant in the Spirit of holiness (c.f. Genesis 12:1-3). In fact, “if you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of anyone, they are retained.” (John 20:23 AMP)
Can you fathom such representative and deputising power that God will give to true apostolic churches in the last days for His faithful and complete fulfilment of His Covenant with Abraham?
This is the authority and power of being holy or embodying holiness, just as our heavenly Father is holy (c.f. Matthew 5:48).
This is what the grace of apostleship and apostolic fathering to produce apostolic people for an apostolic church is all about. This is our apostolic priority.
May we “be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless, and blameless” (2 Peter 3:14) until the end (c.f. 1 Corinthians 1:8), without missing the mark of the framework of the Covenant of God with Abraham, so that we can be the embodiment of God’s Covenant faithfulness, thereby confirming in us the promises given to Abraham through the Covenant (c.f. Romans 15:8).
Post-script
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news of God’s Covenant faithfulness towards His Covenant with Abraham. As such, we cannot be set apart for the gospel of Jesus Christ without first understanding what constitutes the framework of the Covenant of God with Abraham, towards which God is uncompromisingly faithful.
Thus, by our definition, before we can attain to the stature of apostles, apostolic fathers, apostolic people, or apostolic church, we must first understand what constitutes the framework of the Covenant of God with Abraham, else we can never embody the Covenant faithfulness of God, or express explicit obedience of faith without missing the mark of the Covenant.
So, what constitutes the framework of the Covenant of God with Abraham?
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