The church is a functioning body. Like the human body, every member is important. In the church, each member comes into the body the same way, and each has a distinct place or function, just like the members of our physical bodies. This is clearly taught in I Corinthians 12. There are in the church certain offices or responsibilities the apostle Paul found necessary to define.
Paul wrote to help the members of the church recognize order and leadership in the body. Not all members are the same, as we can easily see when we look at our own bodies.
As he had warned them about a schismatic spirit, claiming to be of Paul, Apollos, Cephas, or Christ, so now Paul taught them how to recognize the MINISTRIES IN THE BODY. That was important for them and it is for us.
In I Corinthians 12:27-31 Paul analyzed these ministries:
27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.
In this part of his Corinthian letter, Paul analyzed the ministries of the body in several well-defined STEPS.
The foundational step to understanding the ministries in the body is:
27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
Paul told us what the gifts are and what their purposes are, in a measure. First, there are “apostles.” They were a special group. The word is used first in the New Testament in connection with Jesus when He sent forth the twelve in Matthew 10:2-4. He called unto Him the twelve apostles, who are named: Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew the publican; James the son Alphaeus; and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite; and Judas Iscariot. According to Matthew 10:5, “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go.” That gives meaning to the word apostle. It means “a sent one, one sent with a mission.”
The word apostle is used 81 times in the New Testament. It is used in different occasions and under different circumstances. The word is not used in the Old Testament at all. There is even no equivalent to the word.
There can be false apostles, persons who claim to be apostles and are not. Paul told of them in II Corinthians 11:13: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ,” which by implication they were not.
Second, there are “prophets.” This office in the Old Testament differs from apostles. The New Testament recognizes several Old Testament prophets: Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Jonah, Joel, Samuel, and Daniel. The first use of the word prophet in the New Testament is found in Matthew 1:22. After the angel told Joseph to take Mary as his wife and to name her first-born son Jesus, the Scripture reports, “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled...
