Foremost among those who instruct and guide them in the Christian life is the minister entrusted with the administration of the Church:

“I have become its minister, according to God’s administration that was given to me for you, to make God’s message fully known.” (Col. 1:25 Holman Christian Standard Bible)

In the Church, God appoints a minister—like Apostle Paul in the first-century Church—who is vested with the authority to administer the flock and make His message fully known. In our time, he is the Executive Minister of the Church. And along with his task to preach God’s words comes the authority to lay down rules for Christians to obey:

“As they went through the towns, they delivered to the believers the rules decided upon by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, and they told them to obey those rules. So the churches were made stronger in the faith and grew in numbers every day.” (Acts 16:4–5 Good News Bible)

Take note how the early Christians were edified in their faith and grew in number when they obeyed the rules decided upon by the apostles and elders of the Church. For, God sanctions every decision laid down by the Church Administration, as Christ told His apostles:

“Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.” (Matt. 18:18–19 New King James Version)

The bind mentioned refers to God’s commandments (Prov. 3:3, 1) with which people are bound when they believe the true gospel preached to them and receive baptism in the body of Christ or the Church Of Christ (Mark 16:15–16; I Cor. 12:13; Col. 1:18; Acts 20:28 Lamsa Translation).