Apostolos means one who is sent, carrying the authority of the sender. Scripture applies it well beyond the Twelve, and never as a title in front of a name.
Apostle translates the Greek apostolos, which means one who is sent. In the ancient world it described an envoy carrying the authority of whoever sent him, and that is the whole idea.
It is a job description, not a rank. The New Testament applies it to more people than the Twelve, including a woman, and it never treats it as a title you put in front of a name.
That last point is where most of the modern confusion sits, so we are going to be direct about it further down. First, what the word does in the text.
Apostello, to send out with a commission. The emphasis is on the sending and on the one who sent, not on the status of the person sent.
Used in the wider Greek world for a naval expedition, a delegation or an official envoy. Not a religious word before the New Testament picked it up.
An envoy carries the standing of whoever sent him while representing him. That is why Jesus can say whoever receives you receives me.
Hebrews 3:1 calls Jesus the apostle and high priest whom we confess. He is the sent one before anybody else is.
Everything in the word points back at the sender. An apostle with no one behind him is just a man travelling.
Most people assume the list is twelve names. It is not, and the extras are the interesting part.
Acts 1 replaces Judas, and the stated qualification is having been with them from John's baptism to the resurrection and being a witness of it.
Acts 14:14 calls them both apostles. Barnabas was not one of the Twelve and did not have the Acts 1 qualification.
Galatians 1:19. Paul says he saw none of the other apostles except James, which puts him in the category.
Romans 16:7, outstanding among the apostles. Junia is a woman's name, common in Greek sources, and early commentators including Chrysostom read her as a woman.
There is also a plainer usage. Epaphroditus is called the Philippians' apostolos in Philippians 2:25, and 2 Corinthians 8:23 describes men as apostles of the churches. Most translations render both as messenger, which is fair, but it is the same word.
Robin Gallaher Branch, writing on Phoebe, makes a point that applies here too: translation choices have often reduced the language used for women. She notes that diakonos designates Jesus and Paul as ministers, yet becomes servant when attached to Phoebe. Junia has had the same treatment, appearing in some translations as a man called Junias, a name otherwise unattested in Greek.
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Manage My Giving"Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."2 Corinthians 9:7
Two things are going on with this word, and keeping them apart solves most of the arguments.
Eyewitnesses of the resurrection, named in Acts 1 and 1 Corinthians 9:1. Ephesians 2:20 says the church is built on this foundation, and Revelation 21:14 has their names on the city's foundations. A foundation is laid once.
Ephesians 4:11 lists apostles among the gifts given to the body, with no expiry attached. Sent people who start things, go where the church is not, and hand it on. That has never stopped.
So the honest answer to whether there are apostles today is yes and no, and it depends which sense you mean. Nobody today is an eyewitness of the resurrection and nobody is laying the foundation again. Plenty of people are doing the sent-out work, and that work is still called for.
More on that in whether apostles are still for today and apostle versus disciple.
We hold that the fivefold gifts in Ephesians 4 are functions inside the body, not offices in a hierarchy. Apostle included. And the modern practice of using it as a title in front of a name is something we think is a mistake worth naming.
A title before the name, a tier above pastors, networks built on covering and submission, and a structure where questioning the apostle is treated as rebellion.
Someone sent to start something where nothing exists, who works himself out of a job by appointing local leaders and leaving. Paul's actual pattern in Acts.
Read how Paul describes the role and the contrast is uncomfortable. 1 Corinthians 4:9 says God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die. He lists hunger, beatings, homelessness and manual labour, and calls himself the scum of the earth. That is the apostolic job description he gives.
Jesus was explicit about this and it is not obscure. The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them. Not so with you. Whoever wants to be great must be a servant. Any structure that produces deference, insulates a leader from correction, or makes questioning him a spiritual offence has reproduced exactly what He ruled out, and calling it apostolic does not change what it is.
None of that means the function is fake or that recognising gifts is wrong. It means the gift is for the body, and the measure of it is what got built and who is standing after the person leaves.
What does the Greek word apostolos mean?
It was an ordinary word for a delegation or official envoy before the New Testament used it. Everything in it points back at the sender, which is why Hebrews 3:1 applies it to Jesus first.
The thing the word will not let you do is stay put. Apostolos is motion by definition, and the New Testament keeps using it for people going to places where nothing exists yet.
That is worth holding onto when this word gets attached to conferences and platforms, because it points the other way. The pattern in Acts is arriving somewhere hard, staying long enough to build something, appointing local people, and leaving. Paul writes his letters to churches he is not living in.
And the word lands on you too, in the ordinary sense. John 20:21 has Jesus say as the Father has sent me, I am sending you. That is the same verb. Whatever else apostolic means, it starts with being someone who has been sent somewhere rather than someone who has arrived.
For related ground, see what an apostolic church is, the fivefold ministry, the twelve disciples, the great commission and spiritual gifts.
Apostolos means a sent one carrying the sender's authority, Scripture applies it well beyond the Twelve including to a woman, and it describes a job rather than a rank.
Plenty of people have questions about authority they have never felt safe asking out loud. Send it here and somebody at Sound of Heaven will pray over it with you.
Apostle translates the Greek apostolos, which means one who is sent. In the wider Greek world it described a naval expedition, a delegation or an official envoy, and it was not a religious word before the New Testament used it. An envoy carries the standing of whoever sent him, which is why Jesus can say whoever receives you receives me. Hebrews 3:1 applies the word to Jesus first.
More people than the Twelve. Matthias replaces Judas in Acts 1. Acts 14:14 calls Paul and Barnabas apostles, and Barnabas did not meet the Acts 1 qualification. Galatians 1:19 puts James, the brother of Jesus, in the category. Romans 16:7 describes Andronicus and Junia as outstanding among the apostles, and Junia is a woman's name, read that way by early commentators including Chrysostom.
Yes and no, depending which sense you mean. The foundational apostles were eyewitnesses of the resurrection, and Ephesians 2:20 and Revelation 21:14 describe them as a foundation, which is laid once. Nobody repeats that. But Ephesians 4:11 lists apostles among the gifts given to the body with no expiry attached, and the sent-out work of starting things where the church is not has never stopped.
We do not think so. The fivefold gifts are functions inside the body rather than offices in a hierarchy. Read how Paul describes the role: 1 Corinthians 4:9 puts apostles at the end of the procession like men condemned to die, and lists hunger, beatings, homelessness and manual labour. Jesus was explicit that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and said not so with you.
In Acts the pattern is arriving where nothing exists, staying long enough to build something, appointing local leaders, and leaving. Paul writes his letters to churches he is no longer living in. The word is motion by definition, which is worth remembering when it gets attached to platforms and conferences, because it points the other way.