If someone is called by God to be an apostle, what is the proper way for them to convince others that their calling is genuine?
score:2
The Holy Ghost
Apostles do not have the responsibility to convince others of their call--that's the Holy Ghost's job. Consider the actions of the apostle Peter:
- He bore testimony of Christ
- The Holy Ghost ratified Peter's words to his hearers (or at least those who were willing to listen)
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? (Acts 2:37)
Peter was then able to teach them what they needed to do to retain not just the witness but the gift of the Holy Ghost:
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:38)
Luke's record indicates that for those who followed through, the gift of the Holy Ghost did indeed come upon those to whom it was bestowed by the apostles' laying on of hands (see Acts 8:17-20).
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Signs
The Lord's messengers are indeed regularly accompanied by signs. In some cases, the New Testament records signs given through or in validation of the apostles' divine authority; in other cases the record is silent on this matter.
It is noteworthy, though, that:
- Mark 16 indicates that signs shall follow them that believe not them that believe shall follow signs
- In Acts 2, it wasn't after the manifestation of the gift of tongues--which surely got people's attention--but after Peter's testimony of Christ, that the listeners were pricked in their hearts by the Holy Ghost and willing to act. After their conversion, signs and manifestations of God's power did occur.
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Summary
One who is called as an apostle of Jesus Christ should testify of Christ, and aid people in participating in the ordinances & covenants of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, so that they may receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and more abundantly experience the blessings and transformation God offers.
How many of the people who saw the Red Sea part remained faithful and diligent in obeying God and His representative, Moses?
The power of the Holy Ghost, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the transformative process that results from those who embrace these invitations to act, are far more convincing than anything else.
Upvote:0
The apostles' job was to bring to mankind a message that mankind had not yet heard: That Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for their sins and was raised from the dead by the power of God.
To confirm that this message came from God, and was not simply something they had made up, they were made conduits through which God showed His power, in ways that no man could do of his own ability.
This fellow who believes that he has been called by God to be an apostle needs to show three things:
- A message that isn't already deducible from what the accepted apostles have already brought to us.
- An explanation of why we are receiving this message now, and not back when the accepted apostles were still active.
- Proof that his/her message comes from God, and is not just something he/she made up.
The first of these is the easiest. People have been claiming new revelation from God since shortly after John put his pen down.
The second item is not really mandatory, but we're going to be skeptical if the logic isn't sound.
The third item is what separates the real apostles from the wannabes. Some people will embrace a new teaching if it agrees with what they already wanted to do anyway, but some of us aren't going to like the new teaching, and a few of us know our temptations and know that any new thing which is pleasing is going to be a snare to take us away from God. A miracle settles the matter. Nothing else does.
Upvote:2
If someone calling themselves an apostle is primarily concerned (perhaps concerned at all) with convincing people that he/she is an apostle rather than convincing people that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, I suspect that they are disqualified from true Apostleship right out of the gate.
Even Jesus did not rely upon His own testimony about Himself:
I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved. He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. - John 5:30-39
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