I agree with the scripture you quoted, but first, second and third, are used here as numbers in a list.
No arguement here, but it doesn't support your comment.
Whenever you find the time. I had not encountered your comment before. Doesn't mean you're wrong.
1. The Gifts of the Spirit: Ephesians 4:11 In verse 11, Paul begins with the enumeration of the gifts, some of which are the same as those in Romans 12:4-8. The Book of Romans lists a total of seven spiritual gifts. This Ephesians passage adds additional gifts to the list: And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.
a. Gift Number Eight: The Gift of Apostleship The first gift mentioned is the gift of apostleship. This was a unique gift, because, in order to receive this gift, one had to meet certain qualifications beyond that of being a believer.
(1) The Qualifications for Apostleship While all believers were eligible for any other gift, though God alone determined the distribution of the gifts, only certain believers were eligible for the gift of apostleship. There were two groups of apostles.
(a) The First Circle First was the group of the Twelve Apostles. To qualify for this group, one had to have been a follower of Yeshua (Jesus) from the baptism of John. He was first to have been a disciple of John the Baptist, then to have followed Yeshua, and to have seen the resurrected Messiah and His Ascension. This is seen in the selection of Matthias to replace Judas in Acts 1:22: beginning from the baptism of John, unto the day that he was received up from us, of these must one become a witness with us of his resurrection.
To be an apostle within the circle of the Twelve, one had to have been a follower of Yeshua from the time of John's baptism. Paul was not an apostle of the inner Twelve, because he had never undergone John's baptism.
(b) The Second Circle But there was a second group of apostles, and the requirement for this group was to have seen the resurrected Messiah. Paul fulfilled this requirement, for he saw the resurrected Messiah on the Damascus Road. On this basis, he defends his apostleship in I Corinthians 9:1: Am I not free? am I not an apostle? have I not seen Jesus our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord? Paul proved his apostolic calling by claiming that he had seen the resurrected Messiah. Paul calls himself an apostle in the first verse of his letters, including Romans, I and II Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, I and II Timothy, and Titus.
Barnabas was also an apostle of the second circle according to Acts 14:14. James, the half-brother of Yeshua, was an apostle of the second circle. According to I Corinthians 15:7, James had seen the resurrected Messiah, and Galatians 1:19 puts him in the category of an apostle. So only those who saw the resurrected Messiah ever qualified for receiving this particular gift. Therefore, this gift was only available to the 500-600 people who saw the resurrected Messiah, and not every one of those received the gift of apostleship.
(2) The Evidence of Apostleship A second unique aspect of the gift of apostleship was the fact that the gift of apostleship always included the power of miracles. One was qualified to be an apostle only if he had seen the resurrected Messiah, and then the power of his miracles was the evidence of his apostleship. This is the Paul of II Corinthians 12:12: Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, by signs and wonders and mighty works. Paul proved himself to be an apostle in both ways. First, he had seen the resurrected Messiah on the Damascus Road. Secondly , he had the power of an apostle as proven by his many miracles, signs, and wonders.
The same point is made in Hebrews 2:3-4: how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will. In verse 3, the writer points out that salvation was proclaimed by those who were eyewitnesses of the ministry of Yeshua. These eyewitnesses were the apostles who witnessed His Resurrection and Ascension. They proved their apostolic office by their power of miracles, signs, and wonders (v. 4). Apostles are seen using these powers of miracles in Acts 5:12-16; 16:16-18; and 28:8-9.
