When did Paul
become an apostle. In Acts 13:1, he was a teacher (or possibly a
prophet) in the church at Antioch. At that time he had already had
a visitation from Jesus on the Damascus road, but he was not an
apostle.
As the elders at Antioch ministered to the
Lord, the Spirit told them to set Barnabas and Saul for a special
work. They fasted and prayed and sent them out (Acts
13:2,3). In the next chapter, Paul is called an apostle Acts
14:14.
He did not become an apostle, when he had
a revelation of Jesus. He became an apostle when he was sent out
by the Holy Spirit.
When did Peter become an apostle? In the
first nine chapters of Matthew’s gospel, Peter was a disciple.
And when He had called His twelve
disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to
cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds
of disease (Matt 10:1,2).
In the next verse, Peter was named as an
apostle. He was then sent out (apostled) to preach the gospel.
Peter was changed from a disciple into an apostle in the first
three verses of Matthew 10, when he was anointed with the Spirit
and sent out on a mission.
Note that Peter was given authority, but
it was not authority over other Christians, over a church or a
region. Jesus was adamant that the apostles had not been given a
place of authority over a church (Matt 20:20-27). The only
authority Peter was given was over evil spirits and sickness and
disease. Paul demonstrated the same authority over evil spirits in
Acts 13:7-12.