Was Apostle Paul a Prophet?
1) Direct Answer
Yes. Paul was an apostle-prophet—a sent messenger who received the Word by direct revelation and spoke it with prophetic authority.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- Acts 13:1 shows Saul (Paul) listed among “prophets and teachers” at Antioch. That places him in a prophetic company from the start of his ministry.
- Galatians 1:11-12 and Ephesians 3:3-5 declare that his Gospel and the mystery were given “by revelation of Jesus Christ,” revealed to “His holy apostles and prophets.” Paul stood in that revelation realm.
- 2 Corinthians 12:1-7 records “visions and revelations of the Lord,” even being caught up to the third heaven—clear prophetic experience.
- Acts 16:9; 18:9-10; 23:11; 27:23-25 show repeated visions, angelic visitation, and accurate foretelling (the shipwreck deliverance) that came to pass—hallmarks of a prophet.
- 1 Corinthians 14:37, Paul says, “the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord,” marking his words with divine, prophetic authority.
- Ephesians 2:20 shows the church built upon the foundation of “apostles and prophets.” Paul laid that foundation in doctrine, proving his foundational, prophetic role.
- 2 Peter 3:15-16 counts Paul’s writings with “the other scriptures,” confirming the inspired, prophetic nature of his message.
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
A prophet is one to whom God reveals His Word and who speaks it by inspiration; an apostle is a sent one who lays foundation. Paul did both: he planted churches (apostolic) and received/declared the mystery by direct revelation with visions and fulfilled predictions (prophetic). Saying he was only an apostle ignores Acts 13:1 and his own testimony of revelation. If he wasn’t operating prophetically, why the visions, the angelic messages, the foretelling, and the claim that his writings are the Lord’s commandments?
4) Reinforcing Statement
You see, God set Paul as the pattern messenger to the Gentiles—an apostle with a prophet’s revelation—so the church could be founded solidly on the revealed Word.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 3:E-47
"Thou hast tried them that say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars." My, that is a blunt statement. "Thou hast tried them who call themselves apostles." Isn't that presumptuous? What right has a people to try those who call themselves apostles? And how do they try them? Oh, I love this. Here it is in Galatians 1:8, "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have (already) preached unto you, let him be accursed." It was the apostles who brought...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 4:E-139
Now think it not strange that this is the case, for Paul set this pattern under the hand of God. Paul alone had the full revelation for his day as evidenced by his confrontation of the other apostles who admitted that Paul was the Prophet-Messenger to the Gentiles for that day. And also note by actual illustration in the Word, that when Paul desired to go to Asia, God forbade him, for the sheep (His children) were in Macedonia and they (the Macedonians) would hear what the Spirit had to say through Paul, while the...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 7:E-20
Now as I mentioned already, this age has been called by the historians, the Period of Reformation. That is exactly right. That is what it was. It had to be that for Martin Luther was a reformer, not a prophet. Now I know the history book calls him a prophet, but it doesn't mean that the history book is right, for there is no record of Martin Luther qualifying as a true prophet of God in the grand Scriptural sense of that word. He was a fine teacher with some of the manifestations of the Spirit in his life and we pr...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 3:E-19
The Messenger The messenger (angel) to the church of Ephesus was the apostle Paul. That he was the messenger to the first age of the Gentile era cannot be denied. Though to Peter was granted the authority to open the doors to the Gentiles, it was given to Paul to be their apostle and prophet. He was the Prophet-Messenger to the Gentiles. His prophetic office, by which he received the full revelation of the Word for the Gentiles, authenticated him as their apostolic messenger. To this agreed the other apostles at Je...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 3:E-54
Now here is something else that started in that age and will continue right down through the ages, getting deeper and darker. That is, people were repudiating that Name. It was not the true Ephesian Church that was doing it. No sir. It was the false apostles. It was the outsider trying to get in and defile the believers. The Ephesians knew that Name and loved it. Recall the origin of that Ephesian Church. A little group of people who were looking for the Messiah heard that a prophet who called himself the forerunne...