A Witness of His Resurrection

Many churches teach that the apostles passed their office on to bishops, in an unbroken line, so that bishops today hold the apostles’ authority. They point to Acts 1, where the apostles filled an empty seat. But what does the Bible say an apostle was?

Acts 1:21-22

“Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.”

Acts 1:21-22

The first time the apostles describe their own office, they say what it is for: “a witness with us of his resurrection.” And they say who can do it: a man who was there, who saw. An apostle was an eyewitness.

Acts 10:40-41

“Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.”

Acts 10:40-41

The risen Christ was shown “not to all the people,” but to a group God chose, who ate and drank with Him after He rose. Others hear the witness from them.

Galatians 1:1, 1 Corinthians 9:1

“Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)”

Galatians 1:1

“Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?”

1 Corinthians 9:1

When people doubted Paul, he gave two proofs. He was sent “not of men, neither by man.” And he had seen the Lord. A line of bishops is an office given by men. Paul says the mark of a true apostle is that it was not.

Paul had not walked with Jesus from the beginning, and never claims he had. But like the Twelve, he saw the risen Christ and was sent by Him. No one after that first generation can say that.

1 Corinthians 15:8

“And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.”

1 Corinthians 15:8

Paul lists those who saw the risen Lord and puts himself at the end: “last of all.” He was born late, into a group already complete. His case is the exception at the end of the line, not a door left open. This verse alone does not prove it can never happen again, but it agrees with Acts 1.

Acts 1:25, Acts 12:2

“That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.”

Acts 1:25

“And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.”

Acts 12:2

Judas lost his seat by falling away, and it was filled, but only by an eyewitness. James lost his by death, and it was never filled. Acts simply goes on.

A line of bishops claims that when an apostle dies, his seat passes to another. But the one death of an apostle the Bible records shows the seat left empty. And the one replacement it records happened under a rule, “a witness with us of his resurrection,” that rules out every later one.

Acts 20:17, 28, 32

“And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.”

Acts 20:17

“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God”

Acts 20:28

“And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up”

Acts 20:32

Paul says goodbye to the elders of Ephesus for the last time. If ever there was a moment to name a successor, it was this. He names none. He leaves elders, several of them, whom he also calls overseers. The Holy Ghost made them overseers, not Paul’s hands. And he hands them over “to God, and to the word of his grace.”

Peter did the same: “I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance” (2 Peter 1:15). He left writing, not a successor. The apostles’ plan for after their death was the Scriptures.

Revelation 2:2

“thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.”

Revelation 2:2

Already, while John was still alive, men claimed to be apostles. Christ praises the church at Ephesus for testing them, not for receiving them.

Hebrews 7:23-24, Revelation 21:14

“And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.”

Hebrews 7:23-24

“And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”

Revelation 21:14

Successions exist because men die. The New Testament’s answer to death is not a better line of successors. It is one Man who lives forever.

And the foundations of the holy city carry twelve names, written there for good. A foundation with a fixed list of names has no place for successors.

Some answer that bishops do not claim to be eyewitnesses, only to carry the apostles’ authority to teach. But the Bible never separates the two. “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you” (1 John 1:3). Their authority was their witness. What does pass on is the teaching itself, handed to “faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). Those who teach it stand under it, not over it.

What this means

An apostle was someone who had seen the risen Christ and was sent by Him. That cannot be handed on. Hands can pass on a task. They cannot pass on having seen. So the office ended with the last witness.

What the witnesses saw, they wrote down. I do not need a line of men between me and Christ. I have what they saw, in the word of His grace, and I have the One who lives forever. Any man who claims more, I test by that word.

Road to Eternal Life