Why does Paul, himself, acknowledge 'the twelve' if he was a member already?
"..and that He (Christ) was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve."
Here, Paul counted Matthias among "the twelve" Paul gives this fact as evidence for the truth of the gospel.
Also, 1 Thessalonians includes Silvanus and Timothy as apostles. The letter is written by Paul, Silvanus and Timothy.
"Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ."
Paul also notes James as an apostle:
"But I saw none of the other apostles, save James the Lord's brother."
Also, how do you deal with Barnabas being called an apostle?
"But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this,they tore their clothes..."
Here is how Barnabas and Paul were distinguished as apostles:
"Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away."
The Holy Spirit said... Where was this written? Of course it wasn't written. The teachers and prophets heard this directly from the Spirit.
And then the Holy Spirit, by inspiring the scripture, clearly calls Barnabas an apostle:
"But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this,they tore their clothes..."
The Spirit does only what He sees the Lord do. If the Spirit chose Barnabas the Lord chose Barnabas.
This is the authority of the Holy Spirit: He only speaks what He hears from the Lord:
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. "
Before one might say "Yeah, but, Paul and Barnabas split and we never hear from Barnabas again. Also, Barnabas never wrote anything of the New testament."
Consider this: There are only 9 authors of the New testament. Matt, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James, Jude, and the writer of Hebrews. The writer of James was not the Apostle James, James died before it was written. Mark was an associate of Peter and Paul and not among the 12. So now we're left with 7 authors. Even if we include Paul among the Twelve and assume Hebrews was written by an unnamed Apostle, 5 Apostles of the Lamb wrote nothing of the New Testament. So "writing part of the Bible" is not a qualifier for apostleship.
Why would t he acknolwedge the twelfth man Peter chose ? He was also a disciple of Jesus and had seen him raised from the dead also . I’m not saying Matthias wasn’t “ numbered “ with the eleven
I’m saying
Jesus himself in person chose only twelve men and gave them authority to be his witnesses to preach the gospel and receive the revelations the apostles did and had the authority the apostles had
I’m saying there are only twelve men in the Bible that the risen lord Jesus gave the commission of an apostle in person.
My argument is that
these twelve names are the names of the twelve apostles of the lamb
The ones
he himself the only ones he actually sent to preach the gospel to all people jew and gentile and my reasoning brother is this
“And
they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias;
and
he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”
Acts 1:26
Is not the same as this
“Then
the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain
where Jesus had appointed them. …And
Jesus came and spake unto them,
saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
Matthew 28:16, 18-20 KJV
Nor what happened with
Paul who also was called in person by the Risen lord and given revelation and authority for apostleship. To preach the gospel to all the world
it’s why everyone accepts the Bible still it’s annointed remember Jesus told them the world would believe through
thier words who he had chosen ?
I’m not saying “ they didn’t cast lots and number matthias with the group of twelve “
I’m saying Jesus himself appeared to enabled chose and appointed only twelve men in the Bible to be apostles . Casting lots isn’t how an apostle is chosen it’s when Jesus the lord chooses you.
And
he chose Paul , Along with the eleven . And spoon red the aposltes to establish the faith
“
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and
they have kept thy word. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
I pray for them: I pray
not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. While I was with them in the world,
I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition;( Judas ) that the scripture might be fulfilled.
I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because
they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but
that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
As thou hast sent me into the world,
even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that
they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;”
John 17:6, 8-9, 12, 14-20 KJV
Eleven and then Paul who makes the argument event though he saw and was called later than the others he too was an apostle
It makes sense to me brother Jesus only actually himself called twelve men the other was casting lots and there’s are twelve names
That’s my position but it’s not something I need to be right about just seems the twelve names are … the twelve apostles Jesus actually chose the same way and gave authority to be his witnesses
happen also to be the same ones that we today still rely on thier witness in the Bible they wrote it down . It’s one of the reasons i hold scriptire itself above what I think or someone else thinks I know it came from his apostles who witnessed it all . When it happened
of course luke for instance wasn’t an apostle but he was a witness keeping a true record and a follower of Jesus himself just he wasn’t one of the twelve men Jesus actually chose after he rose and sent to all people
amazing