Who are the “prophets” in the New Testament?
1. “Prophet” and “prophecy” in OT and NT
In the Old Testament the “prophet” is a person given special revelation from God, to speak to the people,
and whose words (because of their divine origin) cannot err. (See Deut. 18:15-22).
In the New Testament we need to draw the following distinctions with respect to prophets and prophecy:
- Acts 2 teaches that all Christians “shall prophesy” (Acts 2:17), i.e. all Christians are prophets in that
we all the knowledge of God which in the OT was the preserve of the prophet alone.
- Revelation 11 describes the activity of the church as “prophesying” (Revelation 11:1-13), i.e. the
relationship of the church to the world is one of speaking God’s powerful word.
- Ephesians (2:20, 3:5, 4:11) speaks of “apostles and prophets.” Our question concerns the identity
and the role of those “prophets.”
2. The identity of these “prophets”
The “prophets” referred to in Ephesians are not the prophets of the Old Testament. Ephesians 3:5 makes
clear that, together with the apostles, they were recipients of revelation which had not been made known
to previous generations. The “prophets” we read of in Ephesians were, in other words, contemporary with
the apostles and associated with them. Specific examples are found in the book of Acts:
- Acts 11:27-28, Agabus foretells “by the Spirit that there would be a great famine” – which happened;
- Acts 13:1-2, “prophets and teachers” through whom the Holy Spirit speaks;
- Acts 21:9-14, Agabus uses a prophetic sign act (linking him to OT prophets like Ezekiel and Isaiah)
and speaks the Spirit’s words concerning Paul’s imprisonment
- Acts 28:17 tells us that Paul understands this prediction to have been fulfilled.
3. The role and status of the NT prophets
From Ephesians 3:4-5 we’ve seen that they are recipients of revelation from God and that they were closely
associated with the apostles. But what exactly was their role and status?
(a) They were prophets!
They spoke truth from God. Note how, in the references from Acts above, the Holy Spirit spoke through the
prophets of the NT church. They spoke from God, with God’s authority, and without error. In that respect
they were like the prophets of the Old Testament.
It’s sometimes suggested that the NT prophets were somehow less authoritative and were capable of error.
However, these verses suggest otherwise.
(b) They established the “foundation” of the NT church
Their task, together with the apostles, was to provide the “foundation” of the NT church. Ephesians 2:20
teaches that the church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets.” Everything we need to
know for salvation and sanctification has been given us through the teaching of the apostles and prophets.
The early churches didn’t have the complete canon of Scripture. The apostles – plus an authoritative and
infallible prophetic ministry – laid the foundation for the church in those early days. With the completion of
the New Testament the “foundation” was completed. That means we do not need further revelation from
God, and should not expect to find prophets in the church today.
4. Why won’t we find “prophets” in the church today?
(a) The Bible is entirely sufficient revelation from God
Two key NT texts explicitly teach us that Scripture is complete and entirely sufficient revelation from God.
First, Jude 3 tells us to “contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all.” Just as Christ’s
death on the Cross was said to be “once for all” (Gk. hapax – see 1 Peter 3:18), so too the “faith delivered
to the saints” is said to be “once for all” (same word) – i.e. entirely sufficient and in need of no addition.