“Regarding the structure of the local church, Christ instituted it as a means of fulfilling the Great Commission. As evidence of this, Jesus marries the act of making disciples to baptism, a church ordinance (Matt. 28:19). In fact, there is ample reason to connect his abiding presence in Matthew 28:20 (‘I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world’) to his presence in Matthew 18:20 (‘For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them’). That is, the authority present in the gathered congregation to pronounce an excommunication is the same authority required in the act of expanding the kingdom by making disciples. The keys of the kingdom of heaven are wielded by the local church (cf. Matt. 16:19; Matt. 18:18).”
Conley Owens, “The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Ethic for Ministry Fundraising,” MDiv Thesis, p. 272
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