Besides all of the other titles, appellations and names, Jesus was the first and original Apostle (Heb. 3:1). Being the first and original Apostle gives Jesus the right and office to appoint others to follow after Him, as Apostles. In order for a Christian to be a true Apostle of Christ, they must be meet certain qualifying factors.
The first qualification of a true Apostle of Christ is that they must be commissioned by Christ (Luke 6:13; Mark 3:14; Jn. 15:16; Rom. 1:5). Paul was also chosen by Jesus (Acts 9:3-6; 9:13-15; 20:24). In Galatians 1:1, Paul calls himself “an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead).” Every person mentioned in the bible as an Apostle, was commissioned by Jesus Himself. If there is no mention of Christ appointing them, then the apostle was most likely a witness of Christ and His resurrection, as in the case of Matthias; he was appointed by the other eleven.
The second qualification is that an Apostle must “be ordained to be a witness” along with the other Apostles of Christ’s resurrection (Acts 1:22). Apostles were to bear witness to the fact that Jesus had risen from the dead. In order to do this, they had to have seen him after he was resurrected. When looking for someone to replace Judas, the one chosen had to be a witness unto the resurrection; they chose Matthias. Matthias was selected because he traveled with the other twelve disciples who were with Jesus and he was a witness to Christ’s resurrection (Acts 1:23,26).
The third qualification of an Apostle is the ability to perform miraculous “signs.” These miracle-working “signs” were given to the apostles to bear witness that they were God’s messengers and that they were speaking the very words of God. However, these “signs” are only available to true apostles and they were given the power to perform them specifically by Jesus, not the Holy Spirit. Jesus “when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease (JKV, Matt. 10:1,2).” Even Paul names these miracles as “signs of an apostle” in 2 Corinthians 12:11-12. After the ascension of Christ, Mark 16:20 says that the apostles “went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following (JKV).”
Believe it or not, many Christians are under the false assumption that all Christians in the early church were performing miracles; this is simply false. After a great sermon by Peter in Acts 2:43 it says, “A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders (NLT).” There’s more evidence of the miraculous work of the apostles, in Acts 5:12 it says, “by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people (KJV).“ There’s absolutely not one mention in the New Testament of any ordinary believers performing miracles with signs and wonders. “If every believer had this power, why did Jesus need to give it to the apostles? They would have had it already. There is not one miracle performed in the New Testament by anyone other than Jesus, the apostles, or those who were directly chosen by Jesus or the apostles (Ref.).”
There is one more about being an Apostle that we should know; Paul said that he was the last one. Paul writes that Jesus “was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me [PAUL] also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God (KJV, 1 Corinthians 15:7-9).” Since no one since Paul has seen Jesus, no one since Paul can be an apostle.
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