2 Thess. 2 v. 15

A STANDING COMMAND

2 Thessalonians 2:15 commands its readers to hold fast to all the Apostolic Traditions, whether written or oral. This is a standing command of the New Testament. As many in Reformed circles have noted, once God gives a command it is binding until he specifically revokes it. If God had not revoked the Mosaic ceremonies, such as the circumcision, food, and separation laws, they would still be binding on us.

2 Thessalonians 2:15 is a standing command of the Word of God and must be obeyed unless specific instructions to disregard it are given elsewhere. So if a critic wants to say 2 Thessalonians 2:15 is no longer binding on us, he has to come up with verses that say these Apostolic Traditions will cease to be binding at some point. But he can't do this. If an Apostolic Tradition was binding then, it would be binding now. The only question is how we can identify Apostolic Traditions, and that role is fulfilled by the Church, who as the living Bride of Christ continues to recognize and identify to her children the authentic voice of her husband.

THE PARADIGM SHIFT ARGUMENT

One last point: Everyone should admit that sola scriptura was not being used while the Bible was still being written. In the Old Testament there were prophets giving God's word, and if you asked a person, "Do you have to get all your knowledge of God from Scripture alone?" He would say, "Of course not. If God says anything, whether it is through Scripture or through a prophet, I have to listen to it. I am bound by the Word of God regardless of the channel through which it comes." The position of a person in Bible times would thus be sola verba, not sola scriptura.

In the New Testament period there were the Old Testament Scriptures, a few New Testament prophets, and the Traditions of the apostles, all of which were binding. If you asked a New Testament believer, "Do you have to get all of your knowledge of God from Scripture alone?" He would say, "Of course not! I have to heed the word of God regardless of how it comes to me, whether in Scripture or in the Traditions of the apostles!" His position, like the Catholic's, would also be sola verba, not sola scriptura.

Thus someone who denies the Catholic position is going to have to admit that the principle used in Bible times was not sola scriptura. To show sola scriptura is binding now, even though it was not binding then, the critic will have to show the New Testament teaches there will be a massive paradigm shift at the end of the apostolic age. He must produce verses that state the Apostolic Traditions will all be written down so that there is now only one source of Apostolic Tradition.

But he can't do this. There are no such verses. Furthermore, since the Apostolic Traditions passed down outside of Apostolic Scripture do not have to be materially different from those in Apostolic Scripture, but simply restatements or authentic interpretations of Apostolic Scripture, a critic would have to prove the impossible proposition that no authentic interpretations of Apostolic Scripture have been passed down from the apostolic age. And he simply can't do this.

-excerpt from a paper on Inspiration of Scripture by Jimmy Akin