Click here to learn more about how to be Saved.

Scripture Reading:    Matthew 19:28

                                  Romans 11:13

Can you name the Twelve Apostles? Most of us Probably cannot get past Peter, James, and John, with perhaps a few adding Matthew, Thomas and maybe Judas. While it doesn't surprise us that many folks cannot name all Twelve Apostles, it is amazing how many people think that Paul is one of them. The truth of the matter is that Paul is not one of the Twelve Apostles, and furthermore, his apostleship is of an entirely different nature than that of the twelve.

The Twelve Apostles are the apostles of Israel. In Matthew 19:28, the Lord promised them,  "Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Of course, Judas was replaced by Matthias in Acts 1:15-26, but nowhere is it said that Paul will sit upon one of those twelve thrones.

This is because the Apostle Paul was the apostle of the Gentiles: "For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office" (Romans 11:13). It is unfortunate, even tragic, that the church has for many centuries minimized that office which God intended to magnify.

In the Galatians epistle, Paul again emphasized the clear distinction between Peter's apostleship and his own: "For he that wrought effectually  in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision [Jews], the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles" (Galatians 2:8). Let us be careful to maintain the distinct ministries of the twelve and Paul!