The Prophetic and Apostolic Authority of Scripture

 

THE PROPHETIC AND APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE

By Ezekiel Kimosop 

In Evangelical Christian tradition, we hold that the New Testament Scriptures collectively speak the mind of Christ to the Church, being God's revelation to us in His Son. These Scriptures fulfill the Old Testament Scriptures which pointed to the coming of Christ. Each cannon of Scripture is an essential part of the revelation of God in Christ Jesus to the Church. When the Scriptures were sealed by the church fathers in the Council of Carthage in 397 AD, the canonization of Scripture was concluded and closed. 

The revelation of Jesus Christ is therefore encapsulated in the entire text of Scripture which itself attests to its sufficiency and finality, neither to be expanded or reduced (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Revelation 22:28-19). Jesus Christ therefore fulfilled the office of prophecy through His final attestation in the sealed Scriptures. The New Testament apostles, being agents and servants of Jesus Christ concluded the revelation of God in Christ Jesus through their apostolic writings. 

The offices of prophet and apostle effectively ceased after the New Testament church period. They cannot be reopened today because their divine purposes were served. Besides, Scripture itself affirms that a person who is eligible for appointment to apostolic office must have seen Jesus Christ and must be a witness of His resurrection (Acts 1:21-22).

Now concerning the gifts of the Holy Spirit, my view is that these gifts served God's purposes in the unveiling and institution of the New Testament church. Some of these gifts have ceased, having served their purposes in the New Testament church period while others have been modified for the purpose of advancing God's kingdom through the ministry of the church. 

Notice also that during the New Testament church period, the foretelling prophetic ministry was extremely limited. We can only identify a few instances when predictive prophecy was made (cf. Acts 11:27-30; 13:1-3; 21:8-11). 

In Acts 15:30-34, Judas and Silas are identified as prophets. The Bible does not however offer addition information on the nature of prophetic mandate that they held in their context.

Some have argued that the prophetic gift continues in the church but that it is unrelated to inspiration or new revelation. They also insist that the exercise of the gift was not restricted to pastors or church leaders. They cite the example of the daughters of Philip the Evangelist mentioned in Acts 21:9. These observations are historically valid but the gifts are no longer required. 

Conservative Evangelical tradition however holds that the gift of prophecy was only meant for the authentication of the ministry of the early church since the complete cannon of Scripture was not available at that point in time. It was therefore a foundational gift whose purposes were served once the canonization of Scripture was concluded. 

My view is that the gift of prophecy is only exercised in the church through forth-telling rather foretelling or predictive prophecy. This concerns the proclamation of the mind of God in Scripture to God's people. The gift cannot bring new inspiration because the sealing of Scripture has been concluded and Biblical prophecy is exclusively identified in the writings of Scripture. 

The passage of Ephesians 4:11-16 is both comprehensive and collective in essence and speaks to the institution of the church as attested in the Book of Acts and its advancement beyond the New Testament church period. Jesus gave some specific offices for His divine purposes. The purposes for the offices of prophet and apostle were fulfilled in the New Testament church period. Other offices are meant for the proclamation of the gospel and for nurturing and edifying the church in order to attain spiritual maturity. The apostolic and ecclesiological foundations that were laid for us by the New Testament apostles their works and writings are sufficient for our obedience. 

The sealed cannon of Scripture is undoubtedly the exclusive instrument for the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and for the instruction and edification of the church in Christ. It conveys the prophetic and apostolic authority to the church of Jesus Christ. Its canonical authority is final. 

My concluding view is that no believer or teacher of Scripture can purport to exercise the functions of the offices of prophet or apostle without violating the revelation and authority of the sealed Scriptures. This effectively implies that no prophet or apostle was raised by God after the New Testament church period. This view is attested by church history. Any claim to prophetic or apostolic authority in the church today is, in my opinion, false, misleading and inconsistent with Scripture. 

© Ezekiel Kimosop 2023