Autonomy and Authority:- 8

Elders And Their Appointment

       While the foundation for the assembly was its being built upon the "apostles and prophets" (Eph. 2:20 ), which is elaborated further by Paul as meaning the doctrines taught by the apostles concerning the Person and work of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:11 ,12), the ongoing care of God's assembly has been entrusted into the hands of the elders.

       The age of the Apostles has passed-they are no longer with us to command, rebuke, instruct, or legislate among the assemblies. The only continuing apostolic authority is that of doctrine and not office; the apostolic voice today is heard only in the apostolic writing of the NT. There were no persons or group of persons, such as a synod, council, or conference, in whom the authority of the apostles was invested when they died-only humble elders are seen in the NT being entrusted with the care of the assembly of God (1 Tim. 3:5).

       It is a striking and significant fact that towards the close of the apostolic age, during the final years of the New Testament period, the Apostles began to refer to themselves as "elders"! Peter in exhorting the elders refers to himself as "a fellow-elder" (1 Pet. 5:1); and John, the last of the Apostles, was generally known among the assemblies before his death by the simple title of "the elder" (2 John 1; 3 John 1). Surely this indicates that as the Apostles were being called Home, their ministry and work completed, their place was being taken not by another generation of Apostles with universal authority as the original Twelve and Paul, but by the institution of an elderhood having responsibility over the assembly in the locality!

Appointed from the Local Assembly

       These elders. As we have already seen, were appointed by the Holy Spirit (Acts 20.28), who endowed them and qualified them from among their fellow-believers in the local assembly. This is evident from the clause “ in the which…”. Also from the language of 1 Peter 5.1, “the elders which are among you”. Elders were the immediate work of the Holy Spirit, choosing and fitting men who were “in” and “among” the believers who formed the local assembly. They were not imports from outside, least of all graduates from some theological institution, nor appointees of any ecclesiastical body or dignitary—but men appointed by God's Spirit alone taken from the congregation of which they formed a part.

       The names used to describe them indicate the kind of men they were and the function they fulfilled in the assembly. They are called “elders” (Acts 20.17) indicating they were men of spiritual maturity and experience. In Acts 20.28 they are termed “overseers” showing their work was to watch over the spiritual well-being of the assembly. Then they are exhorted to “feed the assembly of God” (20.28) which Paul calls a “flock”, revealing they are also shepherds or pastors (to be distinguished from the gift of ‘pastor-teacher' in Ephesians 4.11 which was a ministry for the whole Body (4.12), as distinct from the local assembly).

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