Probs 13 & 14 - 12 Apostles members of the Body/Writings addressed to the Body

PROBLEM NO. 13 --THAT THE TWELVE APOSTLES ARE MEMBERS OF THE BODY OF CHRIST

PROBLEM NO. 14 --THAT THE WRITINGS OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES ARE ADDRESSED TO THE
BODY OF CHRIST

These two problems are put together because they are so closely related. Problem No. 14 is the logical conclusion coming from Problem No. 13. Otherwise there would be no purpose to the writings of the Kingdom Apostles.

That the twelve Apostles are members of the Body of Christ is built on the assumption that the Body of Christ began on the Day of Pentecost. Peter was the speaker through which the Body got its start, and therefore, Peter must be a member of this Church. And since Peter is a member of the Body of Christ, then the other eleven Apostles must be members, also.

This is another one of those problems that is related to the Day of Pentecost.

Sometimes Acts 2 brethren will go to Romans 16:7, that 'they were in Christ before me' (Paul).

Dr. Merrill Unger says about the twelve Apostles, "Before His death our Lord promised to the Apostles the Holy Spirit, to fit them, to be founders and rulers of the Christian Church (John 14:16,17,26; 15:26,27; 16:7-15)..." (Unger's Bible Dictionary by M.F. Unger, page 73 [apostle]; Moody Press; 1977).

The 'founders' and 'rulers' surely indicate that Dr. Unger believes that the twelve Apostles were members of the Body of Christ.

The New Scofield Study Bible in the New King James Version also teaches this idea on page 1310 in relation to Acts 2:1.

THE TRUTH

There are definitely two groups of saved people in the book of Acts. You have the Jewish Messianic Assembly that began with John the Baptist and those who followed the Lord Jesus during His earthly ministry, plus the 120 who gathered in the Upper Roan before the Day of Pentecost (Acts 1:12-15). To this group were added at least 5000-8000 born again Jewish believers who responded to the Gospel of the Kingdom preached by the Apostle Peter. This Assembly is mentioned as late as Acts 21:20, where James told Paul about all the Jewish believers who were zealous of the law of Moses.

This Jewish Assembly is also rightly called the 'Remnant' in Joel 2:32. This remnant is to be kept separate from the Body of Christ, the other group of saved people in the book of Acts, which comes on the scene later.

The twelve Apostles were a vital part of this Jewish Assembly. They were the leaders of this Church, this Remnant. Their writings - 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude, and Revelation - were all written on behalf of the Jewish Messianic Assembly. When they wrote about the 'caning' and 'appearing' of Christ, they referred to His Second Coming. When Peter wrote about an 'inheritance reserved in heaven' for them (1 Peter 1:4), he referred to the Kingdom of heaven found in Matthew's Gospel that will be set up on earth after the Second Coming.

The writings of the Kingdom leaders were for the encouragement of the Jewish believers in order to help them in the days ahead. The Lord had warned them before He went to the cross: "... In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). The writings of those who were Israel's Apostles were for this very purpose of strengthening the believers in helping them to be 'cheerful' in the world. (Hebrews can be added to this list, for Paul had a secondary ministry to the children of Israel - Acts 9:15).

Now if the Twelve Apostles are members of the Body of Christ, then it logically follows that their writings deal with the same truths that Paul wrote about. Even though some Divine principles have never changed and can be found in all the epistles of the New Testament, yet that does not mean that Peter and Paul wrote about the same doctrines like, the Body of Christ, the Rapture, the Gospel of the grace of God, the Mystery, etc. There are also other Divine principles which have either changed or been introduced as a part of new revelation, and THAT needs to be emphasized in our ministry for the Lord. In addition, if Peter is a member of the Body of Christ, then this would give Acts 2 brethren the right to follow Peter rather than Paul. This would be an excuse for following our Lord in His earthly ministry, for Peter wrote in his first letter: "For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps" (1 Peter 2:21). Paul taught just the opposite in 2 Cor. 5:16, "Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer." Peter could never teach the truth of 2 Cor. 5:16. There are sane important facts to consider when dealing with the Twelve Apostles. These facts are usually not considered by Acts 2 brethren.

1 . The Twelve preached the Gospel of the Kingdom during their ministry BEFORE and AFTER the death and resurrection of Christ. Many signs and miracles were done by the Apostles while preaching this Gospel (Matt. 10:8; Acts 2:43). However, God is not using this Gospel today because the signs are not following those that believe (compare Mark 16:17, "And these signs WILL FOLLOW those who believe..."). Millions have been saved and are being saved today with absolutely NO SIGNS FOLLOWING when they believe in their hearts. There were no signs following my salvation when I received the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour in Dec. 1947. But I KNOW I am saved because the Word of God tells me so (Acts 16:31; Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 10:9-10), and because I experienced it. This is what I rest on, not on signs like many misguided believers do in the Charismatic Movement. God IS USING the Gospel of the grace of God to save people and add them to the Body of Christ.

2. The Twelve have a different hope. The Lord promised them that they would sit on 12 thrones governing (judging) the 12 tribes of Israel during the Millennium (Matt. 19:28). This will be fulfilled literally as it is written, and not fulfilled figuratively. Reformed Theology teaches that this is being fulfilled now, since Christ is supposed to be reigning now over the world on the Throne of David.

The 'hope' of the Body of Christ is far different. Our blessed hope (Titus 2:13) is centered in our risen Lord coming back for His Church (1 Thess. 4:16-17). This is called an 'out-resurrection from out of the dead' in the Greek of Phil. 3:11, a unique event that ends this Dispensation of grace.

Now if the Twelve are members of the Body of Christ, would they not have two 'hopes' their own and that of the Body? Or, would they relinquish their 'thrones' in favor of the blessed hope? There is too much speculation about unnecessary things when you have the Twelve in the Body. 3. The Twelve have a different calling and standing. Their calling was to be the Apostles of the Nation of Israel. This standing as Israel's Apostles NEVER changed (Matt. 10:1-10).

The letter of Galatians clearly teaches that the Twelve are different from Paul and the Body of Christ. Gal. 1:6 mentions a 'different' [HETEROS - Greek) gospel. Gal. 1:19 mentions 'other' [HETEROS - Greek) Apostles. The 'other' apostles are the Twelve Apostles; the 'different' gospel is the Gospel of the Kingdom they preached. The 'Gospel of Christ' in Gal. 1:7 refers to the Gospel of the grace of God that Paul preached. There is no 'false gospel' in Galatians, chapter 1. That is very misleading and unbiblical information from the Acts 2 and Reformed positions.

The Twelve are NOT to be considered as Apostles of the Gentiles. They were expressly told by their Lord NOT TO GO to the Gentiles (Matt. 10:5). Even though the resurrected Lord later told them to go to the world (mark 16:15), they never forgot what the Lord had originally told them. This is why Peter didn't want to go to Cornelius. He argued with the Lord about this very thing, and reluctantly gave in to Him (Acts 10:9-16).

The Apostle of the Gentiles is the Apostle Paul, and he is called this in Romans 11 : 13. He was INDEED the Apostle of the Gentiles. The Twelve and their writings are completely left out of God's plans for the Gentiles today.

What about Romans 16:7? This verse says, "Greet Andronicus; and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me." The phrase 'in Christ before me' is the point under consideration. The Greek prep. for 'in' is EN (which can also mean 'by' and 'with'), and the 'me' is emphatic - before me. Why would the Holy Spirit guide Paul in using the emphatic 'me'? There have been two ways of understanding verse 7:

1. That being 'in Christ' before Paul proves that the Twelve Apostles were members of the Body of Christ because they were'in Christ.' The phrase 'in Christ' looks back to John 15:1-7 where Jesus taught that Jewish believers would be 'in Him and He in them' (verse 5). [Acts 2 position].

2. The phrase 'in Christ' is not synonymous with the phrase 'in the Body of Christ.' They are two separate spheres related to Christ involving two separate lines of teaching. The Lord did not have the 'Body of Christ' in mind when He spoke the Upper Room Discourse to His disciples. The Body of Christ is the name for God's Assembly during this Dispensation of grace (Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:18), and ONLY Paul wrote about it.

There is an alternative way of understanding this verse if we change the meaning of the preposition from 'in' to 'by,' and add the word 'saved,' then the phrase would read 'who also were [have become-Greek] (saved) BY Christ before me.' This does make sense and is true to the Word. No doctrine is sacrificed and the Greek text is not changed. only the English needs to be changed. This viewpoint is consistent with Pauline doctrine in particular and with the Bible in general.

By Robert C. Brock