Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and Christ Jesus our hope;
An apostle ...  By this, "Paul claims to have been as truly sent by Christ as were those who were apostles before him."[3] The authority of Paul and the Twelve was plenary, nontransferable and perished from the earth in the death of those genuine apostles who, alone, held the office and exercised its authority.  Why did Paul, at the outset of this letter, stress his apostolic office?  As Hendriksen said: