Apostolic Cessation, not Succession

Q: Now I read about apostolic succession and how its unbiblical and therefore there are no offices of an apostle. Now many Apostolic, Pentecostal churches usually have some one who is appointed as a Apostle. Now even though its labeled as a Christian Church is a Apostolic Pentecostal church is it a false church?

A: Thank you for your question. I agree with your source that apostolic succession is not biblical.There are two reasons for my belief. One, the biblical definition of an apostle is simply not something that can be held by someone alive today. Acts 1:20-22 reads, "Therefore, someone must be added to our number to serve with us as a witness that Jesus came back to life. He must be one of the men who accompanied Jesus with us the entire time that the Lord Jesus was among us. This person must have been with us from the time that John was baptizing people to the day that Jesus was taken from us."  When an apostle was picked to replace Judas, the criterion for being an apostle was said to be someone who accompanied them "the entire time" Jesus was among them and with them from the time "John was baptizing people" to the day Jesus ascended into heaven. Unless a person is two thousand years old, they do not meet this criteria for being an apostle. There are no more apostles, in the biblical sense, around today.

The second reason for me not believing in apostolic succession comes from the definition of the term. The definition of apostolic succession is "the method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is held to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession." The ministry of Jesus Christ is not something that is derived from continuous succession or by inheritance. 2 Corinthians 3:5-6 says, "By ourselves we are not qualified in any way to claim that we can do anything. Rather, God makes us qualified. He has also qualified us to be ministers of a new promise, a spiritual promise, not a written one. Clearly, what was written brings death, but the Spirit brings life." God qualifies all Christians as ministers of the Gospel because of our faith in Jesus Christ. It is not something that is passed down through succession or inheritance to a select few who happen to be in leadership positions within a particular church or denomination.

Many denominations believe in apostolic succession as the way to preserve and determine "true doctrine." But, there is a problem. All of them begin with the false premise that their particular church or denomination is the "true" church. However, the church of Jesus Christ is not an organization, but an organism. It is made up of individuals all over the world who have been born again of the Spirit of God through faith in Jesus Christ. The places these people gather, the names they assemble under and the structure they agree upon to run their assembly is not something that comes from the Bible. It is simply a creation of well-intentioned men and women who want to preside over and control a specific group of people and apostolic succession is a way in which they try and justify their particular group's set of beliefs. "For example, the body is one unit and yet has many parts. As all the parts form one body, so it is with Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12)." The true Church are the individual Christians who make up the Body of Christ, not  Christians who say their particular church or denomination is the "true" Church because of some lineage its leadership claims to have inherited.

In conclusion, the test of whether a church is a false church is not necessarily its belief in apostolic succession, but what it teaches about Jesus Christ. In the case of the Apostolic Pentecostal church, they adhere to a belief that is more troubling than apostolic succession. They define salvation in Jesus Christ as "repentance, baptism (in Jesus' name) and receipt of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues." This, in essence, is a works based salvation that will burden a Christian by keeping them focused on their behavior rather getting to know their God. The Apostle Paul defined the Gospel that saves as "Christ died to take away our sins as the Scriptures predicted. He was placed in a tomb. He was brought back to life on the third day as the Scriptures predicted (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)." There is no mention of water baptism, regardless of what name it is done in, or speaking in tongues. And that comes from an original Apostle, not one who is in a long line of "successors." I will let you be the judge on whether the Apostolic Pentecostal church is a false church. But, regardless of whether it is or not, there are already red flags (belief in apostolic succession and adding to the Gospel) that would keep me from being a part of it. I pray that this answer has shed some light on your question. May God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, continue to lead you into all truth.