LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Apelles, Approved in Christ
In the midst of a precious list of brethren whom the apostle Paul greets in the last chapter of his epistle to the Romans, appears this interesting statement: "Greet Apelles, approved in Christ". Paul mentions many brothers and sisters who gave life to the church in the city of Rome in those days. Of each one of them he highlights something, either of their character or of their service to the Lord. Of Apelles he only says that he is a brother "approved in Christ".
An approved person is someone who has passed through many trials, overcoming stage after stage, and has come out of them with flying colors. Approved "in Christ" indicates that he achieved this qualification, not on his personal merits nor on his own strength, but "in Christ", that is, by remaining in Him, depending on Him, not trusting in himself, but in Him who died and rose again for him.
Apelles must have been, like any of us, a sinner who in an instant of his life met Christ. Shocked by such an encounter, he must have begun to treasure every teaching of his Master, devoutly concerned that the truths he was receiving should come alive in himself.
What teachings transformed Apelles' life? We can consider the entire epistle to the Romans as his spiritual history. First, he would see himself as a sinner under God's righteous judgment (2:5); then he would feel the bliss of forgiveness (4:7), later his eyes would be opened to see himself translated from Adam to Christ (Chapter 5). Firmly established in Christ, he would advance a little further and consider himself dead to sin (6:11) and dead to the law (7:4). Resurrected with Christ, he would occupy himself with the things of the Spirit and casting off the works of the flesh (8:13), he would become more than conqueror through Him who loved him (8:37).
But Apelles would continue to advance; he would not remain a victorious Christian individual. Now, in addition, he would discover that he was a member of a Body (12:5), and therefore he should function in harmony with the rest of the brethren, bearing with some (15:1), bearing with others and above all, learning from the life and service of the other members (15:7), understanding that only in the precious whole of the body of Christ, can Christ be lived in fullness. Only in this way could he become "approved in Christ".
Apelles appears without any title. He is not an elder, pastor, prophet or evangelist; he is only a brother. But he does not expect to be recognized by men; he simply loves his Lord, and all that has to do with His kingdom and His house, rejoices in what the Lord does in other brethren, cooperates with the saints, visiting one, comforting another, always ready to render service for the good of his Lord's work.
This statement was not a careless phrase of the apostle. Surely the whole church at Rome had the same pleasing opinion of Apelles, a brother in whom the life of Christ was evident in all that he did, and who by his conduct blessed all.
May the Lord grant that in the midst of a world increasingly hostile to the Christian faith and in the midst of the vicissitudes of the Christian environment in which we find ourselves, we may find many brothers like Apelles, "approved in Christ".