The biblical basis The biblical basis of the activity of the five ministries from the book of Acts to the present day we read in Ephesians 4:11 to 16, which states: "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, to be evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ until we all reach unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God , a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, to no longer be children, tossed about by every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men in their deceitful craftiness the wiles of error, But speaking the truth in love, may grow up in every way into him who is the head, namely Christ, in whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by every joint that help each other, according to the activities of each Member, maketh increase edifying in love. "
2. The validity of the five ministries, Ephesians 4:13 The five ministries that the Lord Jesus Christ has established in the Church are: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. One argument that has been taught for centuries in the Church as a doctrine, is that the latter was the apostle Paul lived, and after him, the apostolic ministry ceased to exist, additionally, it also teaches that no longer active the prophets, so that even today remain in force solemente evangelists, pastors and teachers. However, when we go to the Bible for the response time to be active dajaron five ministries, and especially the apostolic and prophetic ministry, we find that have not expired, but still valid, he says, "And he gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ "Here are some important points: a. Until we all reach unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God The Greek word used to translate "to" is Mejri μέχρι or mejrís μεχρίς, that means so much, for example, to some extent, applies especially space of time or place that separates .1 This shows that the lifetime of the five ministries will be closed "until" the Church reaches the unity of faith and the unity of knowledge of the Son of God, things that still have not been met. Just this issue as an example that we have not achieved the unity of knowledge of the Son of God. 3 / 6
Notes on the Five Ministries b. A perfect man King James Version 1865, translates this phrase "The state of a perfect man." Again today we see that Christianity, and even ourselves, we are in the process of perfection, but we have not reached the stature of the perfect man. c. A measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ If we see around us again, we find the fact that if indeed the Holy Spirit is leading us to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29, 2 Cor 3:18) , we still have to go to achieve "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." The above three points are the biblical evidence that shows still apply the five ministries and, therefore, the apostolic and prophetic ministry.
3. The purpose of the five ministries, Ephesians 4:12, 14 In the text of Ephesians 4:12 and 14, are at least three basic purposes of the activities of the five ministries in the Church: a. Perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry b. Building the body of Christ c. Do not be children, tossed about by every wind of doctrine
4. The apostle speaks of the etymology of the word "apostle," Strong consistency results indicate that the Greek apostolos πόστολος also means ἀ Officer, apostle, send and messenger .2 This word "roll of ποστέλλω Apostel, which means : ἀ separate place, send, return, send, get and put .3 As an introduction to this subsection, we must remember that the Bible shows that God has appeared in three great times that we can see by the books of the Bible, through the Father in the Old Testament, through the Son in the Gospels and through the Holy Spirit from Pentecost until today. a. Apostles of the Father, Hebrews 3:1 Jesus Christ was sent by the Father to do the work that had established, he was the only apostle sent by the Father. b. Apostles of the Son or apostles of the Lamb, Matthew 10:1-4, Acts 1: 15-26, Revelation 21:14 In the Gospel of Matthew we read that Jesus called his disciples from among the twelve apostles of these after the death of Judas, Matthias was ranked number twelve. 4 / 6
Notes on the Five Ministries These twelve apostles in Revelation are called "Apostles of the Lamb." Surely we can say that this type of ministry concluded with the twelve was closed with Matthias, as the requirements to qualify for this were to have been with the apostles all the time that Jesus came and went with them, beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up, being a witness to his resurrection. c. Apostles of the Holy Spirit, Acts 13:1-4 These are called and sent by the Holy Spirit to do the work of the ministry, the most prominent of them was the apostle Paul. Of those who initially brought this kind of ministry we can mention: Barnabas (Acts 14:14), Paul, Andronicus, Junia (Rom. 16:7), James the brother of the Lord (Gal. 1:19), Silvano, Timothy (1 Thes. 1:1, 2:4, 6), bras (1 Cor 1:1, 4:9) and Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25) Now, based on Ephesians 4:11-16 we can say that this is the kind of ministry that is still in force in the Church.
5. "The apostolic ministry is larger than the other four ministries? No, because the five ministries are equally important for building up the Body of Christ. Unfortunately, there are movements that teach the apostolic and prophetic ministry are most important for the Church, and despise the pastors, evangelists and teachers. This has meant that now everyone wants to be or claim to be apostles, or at least, prophets, therefore must be tested to verify its authenticity (Revelation 2:2)
6. The false apostles, 2 Corinthians 11:1-14, Revelation 2:2 As we noted at the beginning of this essay, the Bible warns of the dangers of útimos days, among which we mention the false ministers and specifically the false apostles, who can make the mistake to refuse or reject the true apostles. In 2 Corinthians 11:1 to 14, we find the example of some false apostles that were introduced in the Corinthian church to harm, his message was characterized by misplaced sense of sincere devotion to Christ, preaching another Jesus, ministry or be moved by another spirit and teach another gospel. Then in Revelation 2:2, we see that the Church of Ephesus also met people who claimed to be apostles, but when tested, they found that they were not. 5 / 6
Notes on the five ministries as an example of false apostles in the Bible we see that there is no example of women who exercise the apostolic ministry, reason enough to know that those who call themselves apostles or appointed (as), are in grave error and deception. Now, as in those days, emerging pseudo and false apostles that, as indicated in 2 Corinthians, sever many of the sincere loyalty to Jesus Christ to go after other Christs and irreversible apostasy. __