I love how poetically simple Paul can be sometimes. I was wondering today how so many people can call themselves apostles? I know intellectually the biblical requirements for an apostle, but I wondered if Paul ever really discussed apostleship at length. Then I found this little gem in 2 Corinthians 12:
I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing. The things that mark an apostle—signs, wonders and miracles—were done among you with great perseverance. (2 Cor 12: 11b-12)
Paul sure seems to think that there are a few easy ways to tell whether you are dealing with an Apostle. He said they would be “marked” by signs, wonders, and miracles. That’s easy enough. Paul was also discussing, in context, how he was not inferior to the supposed “super-apostles” who were running around preaching baptism in spirits other than the Holy Spirit, and acceptance of gospels other than the gospel of Christ. I guess they had those guys back then too. One of the other “boasts” that Paul gave as evidence of his Apostleship:

















