PAUL ONE OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES OF THE LAMB?
Gal 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;)
We have already shown you that Matthias was counted as one of the twelve apostles. But one question remains: are these twelve the same as the "Twelve Apostles of the Lamb" in Revelation 21:14?
Only one point suggests that Paul will be counted as one of the apostles of the Lamb. And that point is: Paul and the eleven were all PERSONALLY, physically called by Jesus himself.
Some might argue that Paul should be one of the apostles of the Lamb because of the great works he did for the Kingdom, or because of how many and the significance of the books of the Bible he wrote. However, these are all external successes, but God looks at the heart.
CONCLUSIONS
Eph 4:11-13 And he gave some, apostles; ... 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 fullness of Christ:
Now that we've concluded that Matthias is Judas' replacement, another question arises: If Paul is not Judas' replacement, and Rev 21:14 refers to only TWELVE "apostles of the Lamb", then what is Paul? I conclude that the term "the twelve apostles of the Lamb" is an honorary title given by Jesus to refer to those twelve who "continued with him in his temptations" upon whom he will adorn the greatest honor in His Kingdom, and "those twelve" are THE TWELVE as understood by Luke, and all the other New Testament writers, as argued above. And therefore, it logically follows that Paul was simply an apostle in the continuation of the office (along with James the Lord's Brother, Gal 1:19, and Barnabas, Acts 14:14), see Eph 4:11.
Now, seeing that Paul, Barnabas, and James, the Lord's Brother are all apostles NOT among "the twelve", but in the continuation of the office, and we are given no indication that the need for this office has been fulfilled, it logically follows that this office, yes, even all the offices of Eph 4:11 are still in existence today.
