Objection: No One Today Has Apostolic Power Because a Prerequisite for Being an Apostle Is Having Walked with Jesus in Person (Acts 1:20-22)

Acts 1:20-22:
For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.
Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

The objector misses the point that the Bible distinguishes the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb from apostles in general:

Revelation 21:14:
And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

If these apostles have a chat page in heaven, it’s a closed group!  There will never be a 13th or 14th out of the 12 apostles of the Lamb.  So they are in a special class that no person today could be in.  Not even Paul was part of this select group.

But the objector misses the glaringly obvious truth that Paul called himself an apostle, and he refers to others as apostles who were not mentioned in the four gospels.  Paul did not walk with Jesus in person before His death and resurrection!  So the whole basis for the objection has fallen apart.  Paul certainly walked in apostolic power even though he was never one of the original twelve Apostles of the Lamb.

Paul introduced himself as an apostle in his letters, stating that Jesus had made him one, not man:

Romans 1:1:
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

1 Corinthians 1:1:
Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

2 Corinthians 1:1:
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:

Galatians 1:1:
Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

Ephesians 1:1:
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

Colossians 1:1:
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,

1 Timothy 1:1:
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;

2 Timothy 1:1:
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

Titus 1:1:
Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;

You cannot escape Paul’s teaching that there will continue to be apostles until the Body of Christ is completely mature, which won’t happen in this lifetime:

Ephesians 4:11:
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

How long were they given?

Ephesians 4:13:
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

That hasn’t happened yet!

So there are STILL apostles today who are not numbered among the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb.  Therefore, we should continue to expect “the signs of an apostle” that Paul did (2 Corinthians 12:12) to be among us today as well.