One New Man

When one is born again, he or she became a new man in Christ. God doesn't see six billion people in the earth. He sees two men in the earth, Adam, who is dead in his sins and the Last Adam, who is alive, quickened by the Spirit. The question becomes, which one are we?  If we are the later, then the Spirit of Christ dwells in us, His nature, His fruit and His gifts are expected to be manifested in and through our life.

 That is why Paul spent jail time. It was because of the message he carried by revelation of the Spirit, which is the mystery that had been revealed to him—"one new man in Christ". This is why the Jews sought to kill him. It is why he was in jail. He told the Ephesians after laying this foundation in Ephesians chapter 1 and 2:

It is very, very important to understand that this is what God was doing by His Spirit, in the first century and in fact still is. The Lord is bringing forth a New Creation man which is the creation of the Spirit, the nature of Christ. This was Paul's message. "one new man".

One way to discern apostolic ministry today is to listen to the message being taught. Is the message the gospel that Paul preached, 1 Corinthians 15:1-3? Does the message point to a new man in Christ expressed corporately, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15, Ephesians 2:15; 4:24, Colossians 3:10? Is the focus on the work of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-6)? If these components are not being underscored, it isn't apostolic.

 The apostolic is about being a carrier of the message of Christ.  It is not about what people call us, it is not about, how long we have been doing our ministry. It is not about what group we are associated. It is about what one is carrying as a sent one from the Lord, His messenger.  The larger question is: Am I carrying the Word of Jesus?  Paul understood that the apostolic came out of the life of Christ and not his own. He said,

It wasn't about Paul, this learned Pharisee of Pharisees. It wasn't about Paul, this man of zeal. He thought he was scoring points jailing the Christians, until he met Jesus on the road to Damascus when everything for Paul changed.

There are many individuals that have called themselves apostles and prophets that need to meet Jesus on the road. They need to meet Him and get blinded for a bit, and then get some scales removed from their eyes.

To fulfill God's eternal purpose will require a shift in the way we view church; especially the pastorate, money and its distribution.  The thinking must shift from pastoral exclusively to apostolic as foundational. At the present time the critical problem in this apostolic movement is the need to move from a pastoral focus of leadership to an apostolic one. The pastoral grace or gift is not sufficient to take the church to the next level in order to take cities and nations for Christ.

Many pastors today have a revelation of the apostolic and its importance to the body of Christ, but because of finances (principally the fear of losing control of them), they have difficulty making the shift to apostolic.   The fear of that change will cost them their income, their control, their power and position. Most pastors I know wouldn't express it that way, but if their heart were opened, we would see the conflict raging. God wants to help leaders shift their thinking to an apostolic mindset. Whatever our function may be in His church, we must think in terms of apostolic, because Christ birthed an apostolic church. The church is built on "apostolic teaching"

The church is a sent people (dynamic not static) - the commission is "go" Matthew 28:19

For centuries the church has revolved around the bishop's office. It has not made room for the apostolic and the prophetic gift. If we return to the New Testament principals, and are honest about what it truly teaches, we will find that of the bishop's office or the elder, the overseer emerged from  the apostolic. The word pastor is limited in its use in scripture.

If one were to take a close look at the New Testament, you will not find pastors ordaining pastors? It just is not there. The authority to ordain pastors, elders, overseers or bishops, on authority given by Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, is an apostolic function. The church has lost much of its New Testament authority because of a lack of proper biblical order. I believe in church government and understand two principle forms of government revealed in the church of the New Testament.

First, there is apostolic government. It is out of the apostolic government that pastoral government emerged. In each locality of the New Testament church one reads of a plurality of leadership or eldership in a locality that gave oversight and care to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. This local eldership rightly related to apostolic leadership. It should be noted that when apostolic leaders came to the local church, it was not with an attitude of superiority or control as revealed in Paul.  Paul released authority to the local eldership that emerged in the church. A presbytery of leaders caring for the Lord's church with love and grace. When Paul would returned to a church he planted, he would help to develop the local governing leadership and that, out of his relationship with the church. Paul fathered these emerging leaders and saw them as sons in the gospel. See Acts 20 and 1 Timothy to pick up Paul's spirit in this matter. Sometimes he would send one of his deputies to work with the people to identify the leaders among them. Timothy and Titus serve as examples of this model Paul gives us.

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.  (2 Timothy 2:1-2)

For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you... (Titus 1:5)

There is nothing about hierarchy in the New Testament, in fact, Jesus said,

"My Kingdom is not that way. It may be the way the Gentiles operate, but it is not the way My Kingdom operates. If you are going to be great in My Kingdom, then you've got to learn to be a servant of all." (Mark 10:42-43)

Servant-hood means one will encounter people who think of themselves more highly than they should. Often those called to be a servant leader is minimized, stomped on, rejected and misunderstood. Out of these wounds a true servant is produced. It is servant leadership that we need to see modeled in the church; this is the pattern found in God's Word.

Although the apostolic and prophetic gifts have been present in the church, how they have financially been cared for has not been of a primary focus. In most local churches financing other five fold ministries, especially the apostolic are not considered.