[Mrs. Don-o]

Paul was an Apostle with the same kind of authority in the Church as the other Apostles and their successors, neither more nor less. He was the head of the local churches he "planted," and anybody who has read the Epistles knows that he is quite insistent on these churches acknowledging his authority as an Apostle like Peter, James, John and the rest--- it's the subject of quite a bit of assertion on his part.

This begins its development as Church structure at the level of deacons (diakonoi), priests (presbyteroi), and bishops (episcopoi) as you can see right in the pages of the New Testament, as these offices are passed on by the laying on of hands, to replacements and successors (Matthias, Timothy, Titus, etc.)

This authority derives from Jesus giving the keys (the symbol of authority), the power to "loose and to bind," to His Apostles; and His declaration that "whoever hears you, hears Me."

Tagline.

[GeronL]

from that other post:

Nowhere does Scripture state that in order to keep the church from error, the authority of the apostles was passed on to those they ordained (the idea behind apostolic succession). Apostolic succession is “read into” those verses that the Roman Catholic Church uses to support this doctrine (2 Timothy 2:2; 4:2-5; Titus 1:5; 2:1; 2:15; 1 Timothy 5:19-22). What Scripture DOES teach is that false teachings would arise even from among church leaders and that Christians were to compare the teachings of these later church leaders with Scripture, which alone is cited in the Bible as infallible. The Bible does not teach that the apostles were infallible, apart from what was written by them and incorporated into Scripture. Paul, in talking to the church leaders in the large city of Ephesus, makes note of coming false teachers. Paul does NOT commend them to “the apostles and those who would carry on their authority,” but rather to “God and to the word of His grace” (Acts 20:28-32).