False Apostles Exposed: 5 Biblical Signs to Recognize True and Counterfeit Apostles

As surely as there are real and genuine apostles functioning today, there are also false apostles.

False apostles can fall into two categories. There are those who have been led to believe they are apostles when they are not. They are either misguided by their own delusions or by other people proclaiming their apostleship. Either way, this can end up being devastating to them and their families. This is because they are seeking to operate in a grace they have not been given. This results in attacks of the devil they are not equipped to deal with. This can result in destruction and devastation.

The Bible speaks of these who are deceived into thinking they are apostles when they are not. These are a little less damaging than those in a second category. Some know they aren’t apostles, yet they use the title to take advantage of people. These are outright charlatans who we must be aware exist. The motivation for their trickery is usually fame and fortune. It’s actually more about fortune, however. This is the group Paul contended against in the early church.

Both of these groups can bring great damage to the cause of the Kingdom of God. They can paint an incorrect picture of the apostolic. This has been used to turn people against anything labeled apostolic. As a result, what God wants to accomplish is compromised.

Jesus commended the Ephesus church for its ability to discern false apostles. Revelation 2 shows that in the midst of the Ephesus church having lost its passion for Jesus, it still could expose false apostles. Jesus called these false apostles liars.

I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars (Revelation 2:2).

The Ephesus church had put these supposed apostles to the test and had determined they were liars. This word liars is the Greek word pseudes, which means “to be untrue and to attempt to deceive through falsehood.” Again, this is different from people who have been led to believe they are apostles when they are not. We have an epidemic in today’s church, where it seems everyone is an apostle. This is an ongoing problem. This has been created to some degree by leaders, even leaders who are apostles, lowering the standard of what an apostle is. We must understand that we are all called to be apostolic, but all are not apostles. Paul actually rhetorically asked this question in 1 Corinthians 12:29.

In Paul’s effort to help the Corinthian church recognize everyone has different calls and placements, he asks:

Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?

The answer to this question is a resounding “NO!” Everyone is not an apostle. Yet the standard has been lowered today to make whoever wants to be, an apostle. I have watched as people who are intercessors are allowed to claim the position and title of apostle. I have watched as those who have built nothing are allowed to be considered apostles. I have watched as people who might have a calling of an apostle and may be emerging apostles are allowed to be full-blown apostles. What this has done is water down the true apostolic. This needs to stop. Until it does, there will be blemishes and marks of disgrace on the apostolic movement.

We need to make a distinction on three levels: 1) Those who are true functioning apostles should be recognized and honored. 2) Those who are emerging apostles, or they have a call but do not yet have the fruit to back up that call, should be encouraged and honored but not esteemed as full-blown apostles. 3) The third level are those who are not apostles but are apostolic. This is what the entire church/ecclesia should be. We are to be a people with a Kingdom heart who think apostolically even though we don’t have the call to be an apostle. These are here to connect to apostles and be part of an apostolic company to expand the Kingdom rule of God.

This is what we see in Acts 4 when Peter and John are released from their interrogation by the religious leaders and they return to their companions or company:

And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them (Acts 4:23).

As they reported to this group, what happened? This group began to pray. Their prayers had such power that the place they were in began to physically shake. They were all filled afresh and anew with the Holy Spirit. This was the power and authority of an apostolic company. They were not all apostles, but they were all apostolic.We desperately need this level of the apostolic at work.

However, people must be free to not be apostles and to simply be apostolic. This will be the majority of the church and its function. This understanding will help us to stop making people apostles who are not.

Something else that will help with this debacle will be the commissioning of real apostles. The truth is that only apostles and prophets have the capacity to commission and recognize real apostles. One of the questions that should be asked to determine if someone is a real apostle is, “Who commissioned you?” It is the job of apostles and prophets to recognize and send apostles. Galatians 2:9 shows Peter and John, who were apostles before Paul and Barnabas, recognizing them as apostles:

And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

Notice that it was the grace of apostleship that James, Peter, and John recognized on Barnabas and Paul that caused them to send them. This is absolutely essential to commissioning people to be apostles. Right now in the body of Christ this is not being adhered to. We must have only those who are truly graced to be apostles to be recognized in this capacity. This will begin to reinstate a true honor and respect for the apostolic.

The truth is that years before I began to function as an apostle, multiples of prophets began to come through the church I led and proclaim me to be an apostle. I didn’t really know what an apostle was at that time. I had a vague awareness, but nothing like what I understand now. There were at least three different prophets who would come into the church and proclaim I was an apostle. One said I had on a bishop’s hat in the spirit. Another said I was an apostle to be sent to nations while my chief associate would lead the local work. And one said I was an apostle because that was what God had said I was. This was a constant theme.

Then I began to have encounters in the spirit world that started making me think, perhaps these prophets weren’t crazy. Slowly but surely it became apparent that God was moving me to function as an apostle in the body of Christ. Dr. C. Peter Wagner said often that in his research it took several years for real apostles to accept their call. Real apostles do not have a need to “be somebody.” Their passion is the expansion of the Kingdom of God. Normally the Lord has extracted from them any longing for titles and acclaim. They simply carry a longing for Jesus to be glorified and the work of the Kingdom to be expanded.