Apostolic succession is not a chain of hands but a succession of truth: the church stands in the apostles' line when it clings to their doctrine in Scripture, centered on Christ and justification by grace alone through faith alone. A truly apostolic church is marked by the right preaching of the Word, the right administration of baptism and the Lord's Supper, and loving discipline that safeguards the gospel. The extraordinary apostolic office has ceased, yet ministers "succeed" the apostles as they faithfully teach what the apostles taught in the gospel and refuse any additions that would obscure it.
