The saints are equipped to serve through the work of Apostles, prophets (revelation), evangelists (first principles of the gospel of Christ), and pastors and teachers. As each serves, God’s people are being built up (edified). All of these have in common the role of teaching to build up the body of Christ.
The work of an apostle carried more authority and power in one person than is granted any of the others. We will provide biblical evidence for this statement in keeping with the statement that he laid the foundation on which others would build. In particular, the elements of an apostle are that they are commissioned by Jesus Christ, himself. Second, they had seen Jesus after the resurrection, which attests to the truth that he did rise from the dead. Third, they enjoyed a special inspiration of the Spirit as Ambassadors. Fourth, Alford and Ellicott, involves further: “That they have no personal successors, can have none; that no supreme authority exists in any ecclesiastical office unless that office is the Apostolate. See further, Galatians, 1:1–5, Doctr. Notes; Romans, p. 59.—R , to prove their commission and inspiration, they were furnished with ample credentials and miraculous powers.
First, the thought of him being an apostle of Jesus Christ means that he was sent on a commission by Jesus Christ. Others were said to be apostles, also. We read of Barnabas as an apostle (Acts 14:4, 14) with which you can compare 1 Corinthians 9:6. And most probably the name was borne by others ( See Rev. 2:2, Rom. 16:7, 2 Cor. 8:23, Phil. 2:25). They may have been called and sent on a task by someone, but to be an apostle of Jesus Christ meant that he personally chose and appeared to give them their mission. The importance of the twelve being apostles is not that they were sent on a commission, but that they were commissioned by Jesus Christ. He is the one in whom dwells all authority and power (Matthew 28:18). This association gives significance to the phrase, “in the name of Jesus.” Peter alludes to this several times in Acts 4 when he healed the lame man at the Jerusalem gate, Beautiful. The man was made whole by the power of Jesus, not Peter or John.
Also, the term “apostle” is applied to our Lord Himself (Heb. 3:1), who was sent by the Father and was subject to Him while on earth. Therefore, because all power was given to Christ, he gives to the disciples their mission and their gifts for this mission on earth (Matt. 28:19, 20). The words the Father gave to Jesus would be given to the apostles (John 17:8); the mission Jesus had received from the Father he bestows on the apostles (v. 18); the glory the Father gave him he gave to them (v. 22); and where he is they, too, are to be (v. 24). So, there is a thread that runs throughout the New Testament. What Christ had received, he was to give to those chosen to receive it. The ascended Lord sent the Holy Spirit that empowered His men to teach by the direction of the Holy Spirit.
For this reason, it is called “grace”. Paul was not giving his advice or speaking from his authority. He was giving what had been given to him. The foundation that Paul laid in Corinth was the foundation of Jesus because of his unique position as His apostle. 1 Corinthians 3:10 reads,
According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise master builder, I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon.
The significance of the word “grace” to describe the gift of the Holy Spirit is that it was a miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit that was necessary to create this one new man. It is used of the apostles (Ephesians 3:2,7)and all gifts of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:7).
For example, Galatians 2:9 reads,
Now And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen and they unto the circumcision.
He writes in Romans 12:3,
Now “For I say, through the grace that was given to me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think…”
Ephesians 4:7 reads,
But to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift”
While he was not one of the twelve who had been with Jesus from the beginning, his apostleship was different than the others as he was specifically an apostle to the Gentiles. It was explained to Ananias in Acts 9:15-16,
But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
When Paul went to Jerusalem with Titus he reported Peter, James, and John’s response to his work. Galatians 2:7-9 reads,
They recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised. For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles. James, Cephas, and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles and them to the circumcised.
In Romans 11:13, Paul explains that he is an “apostle to the Gentiles.”