Gifts of the Spirit 3

Eph. 4:1 ¶ Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

Eph. 4:2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

Eph. 4:3 being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Eph. 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling;

Eph. 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

Eph. 4:6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

Eph. 4:7 ¶ But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

Eph. 4:8 Therefore it says, “WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE THE CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO PEOPLE.”

Eph. 4:9 ¶ (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?

Eph. 4:10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)

Eph. 4:11 And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers,

Eph. 4:12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ;

Eph. 4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

Eph 4

• apostle

apostles 693   [652]   ἀπόστολος, apostolos, n.  [690]. apostle, representative, messenger, envoy; often used in a technical sense for the divinely appointed founders of the church

[Bible Words]

2. The apostles in the Gospels and Acts. The Gospels report that Jesus chose twelve men and designated them his apostles (Mt 10:2; Mk 3:14; Lk 6:13). These twelve were with Jesus through his years of earthly ministry and were witnesses to his resurrection. When Judas betrayed Jesus and then committed suicide, another was chosen to bring the number back to twelve. “It is necessary,” Peter explained, “to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection” (Ac 1:21-22).

Acts 1:18 (Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out.

Acts 1:19 And it became known to all the residents of Jerusalem; as a result that field was called Hakeldama in their own language, that is, Field of Blood.)

Acts 1:20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms: ‘MAY HIS RESIDENCE BE MADE DESOLATE, AND MAY THERE BE NONE LIVING IN IT’; ¶ and, ‘MAY ANOTHER TAKE HIS OFFICE.’

Acts 1:21 ¶ “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—

Acts 1:22 beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

Acts 1:23 So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias.

Both the qualifications and the mission of the Twelve are identified here. They had to be followers of Jesus from the beginning of his public ministry through his ascension, and they had to witness the fact of Jesus’ resurrection.

In Acts we see the twelve apostles 

evangelizing (Ac 2), 

performing miracles (Ac 2:43; 5:12), 

teaching converts (Ac 2:42),

proposing a way for the church to create a structure needed to handle distribution to the needy so the apostles themselves could concentrate on prayer and the ministry of the Word (Ac 6:1-4). 

The apostles served not as rulers but as wise guides. They were not directors but were participants with the whole church in seeking God’s guidance in the significant decisions affecting the believing community (Ac 11:1-18; 15:1-35).

The role and identity of the Twelve was never transformed into institutional roles or offices. The Twelve remain a group of a dozen unique individuals, and Revelation tells us the foundation of the heavenly Jerusalem will have engraved on them “the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Rev 21:14).

Paul did meet Jesus on the road to Damascus, as recorded in Acts chapter nine.  Of course, you are at least partially right because Paul was not intimately acquainted with Jesus as were the other apostles.  Paul was not an apostle in the traditional sense (Acts 1:21-22).  Nevertheless he did claim to receive a special apostleship directly from Jesus and it appears from the book of Acts and 2 Pet 3:16-17 that Paul was accepted by “the twelve” as an apostle, even if not one in exactly the same way they were.  They entrusted to him the ministry to the Gentiles, which is no small thing!!!  (see Acts 15).  Paul clearly claimed to receive truth from Jesus, as did the other apostles.  Given his accpetance by the apostles and the elders in Jerusalem, all (or virtually all) Christians have accepted his letters as inspired and as part of the New Testament.  Peter (2 Pet 3:14-17) clearly considered Paul’s writings inspired

Paul refers to himself as an apostle “abnormally born.” (1 Corinthians 15:8).  

Barnabas is referred to as an apostle. (Acts 14:14).   

we have two usages of the word apostle

1. specific reference to “the twelve”
2. appointed messengers helping as founders of the church

https://evidenceforchristianity.org/how-can-paul-be-an-apostle-if-he-did-not-meet-jesus-why-is-his-teaching-so-different-from-the-twelve/

• prophet – see above
• evangelist
• pastor

pastors (1x)  G4166 (18x)

[NIV Greek]

4478   [4166]   ποιμήν, poimēn, n.  [root of: 799, 4471?, 4477, 4479, 4480]. shepherd; pastor

[NIV Nave’s]

PASTOR [G4478] A leader of the church (Eph 4:11), possibly the same as elder and overseer. See Elders; Overseer.

This word poimēn is from a root meaning to protect. 

Jesus said the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:11) 

and called himself the Good Shepherd. In Heb. 13:20 

Christ is the Great Shepherd (cf. 1 Peter 2:25).

• teacher

teaches 1438   [1321]   διδάσκω, didaskō, v 

• • instruct, to provide information in a manner intended to produce understanding, either in a formal or informal setting
  • providing an explanation of a scripture, passage, or doctrine.