#66-G12 Galatians 1:1 continued
Here we continue with our look at the three categories of apostles found in the apostle Paul’s writings.
1. The Twelve Apostles – Matthew 10:1-5
Here we have a list of these apostles. Their means to salvation was all to do with believing that Jesus was the Son of God and that He was the promised Messiah, the Christ of Israel. Their objective, their mission was to lead Israel to accept Him as such, beginning in Jerusalem. The details of their commission are provided in Mark 16:14-18. The Matthew 28:19-20 account simply provides a short overview. It is the Mark passage that gives far more of the details pertaining to that commission. Throughout the book of Acts we see that commission and it’s attributes expressed. But because of Israel’s rejection of it, the full implementation of the program was interrupted. God commissioned the apostle Paul with a new message which was separate and apart from the Mosaic Law and the promised earthly Kingdom blessings.
2. The false apostles Paul writes about in II Corinthians 11:13-14.
Every generation has these people who misrepresent the commission given to the Twelve, as well as the commission given to the apostle Paul. As believers, we are to be familiar with the Pauline truth expressed in his thirteen epistles–Romans to Philemon. This knowledge serves to protect us from the message of false apostles in our time.
3. The apostle Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles.
The apostle Paul is called in Scripture the apostle to the Gentiles. This is quite different in that Paul’s commission and the heart of his message was not the same, as is commonly thought. The message of the 12 Apostles included obedience to the Mosaic Law. As noted above, the apostle Paul’s stated that the converts under his message would not be under the dictates of the Mosaic Law.
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