• Welcome to Baptist Board, a friendly forum to discuss the Baptist Faith in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to all the features that our community has to offer.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!

The 12th Apostle

ktn4eg

New Member
Revelation 21:14 states that, "...the wall of the city [the holy Jerusalem{see Rev. 21:10}] had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the apostles of the Lamb."

My question is this: Who is the 12th apostle?

IMHO, there appears to be only two persons who would be likely candidates for being the 12th apostle, namely:

(1) Matthias. He was the one who was chosen by the remaining apostles to replace Judas Iscariot as is recorded in Acts 1:15-26.

or,

(2) Paul. The Holy Spirit chose him to write most of the books in the New Testament. Many of Paul's letters contain statements wherein he identifies himself as an apostle; and, in I Corinthians 9:1 Paul states that he IS an apostle due to the fact that he personally saw Christ.

I've read articles that state that the 12th apostle was Matthias, and then, OTOH, I've also read articles that state that the 12ith apostle was Paul.

Who do you believe was the 12th apostle?
 

Zenas

Active Member
Who do you believe was the 12th apostle?
Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
Acts 1:26.

I think scripture is perfectly clear on this point. As for Paul, of course he was an apostle, as was Barnabas, but he was never one of the twelve.
 

preachinjesus

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
My question is this: Who is the 12th apostle?

Well, if we take it in a futurist sense, than Matthias seems the logical answer. Clearly the office of Apostle expands in the post-Pentecost era, but the idea here, for the futurist, seems to be Matthias.

Now, I don't take this approach, instead opting for the symbolism of the 12 Apostles that is evident in the Gospels and rest of the NT. Apostleship is a highly complex topic in the NT...believe it or not. :)
 
I've seen it argued that it was God’s sovereign will that He ordained Matthias, but it was God's perfect will that He desired for the apostles to wait for Paul. There is no way to prove it, however. It is nothing more than speculation. The Bible neither condemns Matthias' choice by the other apostles, nor makes him the center of the Gospel spreading to other nations as was Paul.

The question often comes up regarding which man's name will be on the Foundation of Heavenly Jerusalem as spoken of in Revelation 21:14. The only valid answer is, we'll just have to wait to find out.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Zenas

Active Member
There is a strong undercurrent among Evangelical Christians that the selection of Matthias was flawed. The oft stated reason is that the apostles did not seek God's guidance before embarking on the process. However, I suspect the real reason is that they made the final selection by casting lots, i.e., gambling. The fact is that only Peter and John are mentioned in the N.T. after the early chapters of Acts so in that respect Matthias is no different than nine of the other apostles.
 

John of Japan

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Acts 1:26.

I think scripture is perfectly clear on this point. As for Paul, of course he was an apostle, as was Barnabas, but he was never one of the twelve.
I agree completely. If Scripture says "he was added to the disciples" then who are we to say he was not?

The view that Paul replaced Judas usually ignores all the others listed as apostles in the NT. In particular it ignores the fact that in Acts 14:14 both Paul and Barnabas were "the apostles," showing that Barnabas was an equal apostle to Paul--meaning that if you added Paul to the 12 you'd have to add Barnabas--making it 13 apostles! :D
 

Van

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
I believe TND nailed it with we will have to wait until we get to heaven to find out. If we want to limit the 12 Apostles to those personally chosen by Jesus, and exclude Judas chosen as the betrayer, the Paul comes to mind.
 
Top