This is one part where Protestants believe RCs have blinders on. For some reason, they dismiss the word of God as a direct means of God speaking to men and instead, they put their trust in fallible men and word-of-mouth instructions.
Do you actually not believe God is speaking to you in Scripture, jo kus? Why in the world did God write the Bible if not to speak to His children and to teach them righteousness and to inform them of their justificaiton by Christ on the cross?
I know you have a special place in your heart for Paul, but.. he's God? ;)
For one millionth time and more, God did not write the Bible. Men did. Sure, they were inspired by God, but man's fingers are in the Bible, and man's additions and delitions and versions, and errors litter copies of copies, all of which show great diversity and divergence, and because we also don't have the originals. There are verses in some Bibles that were never there before certain time in more recent history, so your sweeping generalization is patently false.
God didn't put Comma Joahnneum in 1 John! A monk did, and I doubt he was inspired. And if it was there all along as some claim, then someone took it out for 1500 years, and it wasn't God!
The Bible contains forgeries and man-made errors. Tha's why textual criticism is is so important. But if you are going to treat the Bible as some pristine book "written" by God, then you will believe any forgery that comes your way.
I do believe that God speaks to me on occasion when I read the Scriptures. I believe that my comments on this are being taken out of context. I mean to say that Paul does not write to the individual Christian, and certainly not to us 2000 years later. Paul writes to the community. Thus, his words should be applied within the context of the community. Those who remain in the community will receive the promises that Scriptures detail. Paul tells us that SOME individuals within the community will NOT endure. We do not know WHICH individuals this refers to. Thus, I believe it is incorrect to apply what Paul says to the community at Thessalonica and apply it ALWAYS to our own personal life - thinking that I am of the elect merely because I read the Bible and think it applies to me.
Paul tells the community to persevere. These are words meant for everyone. Those who persevere TO THE END in Christ were obviously of the elect. I disagree that we can know we are of the elect for heaven UNLESS we actually persevered in the end. We do not see that future in our individual lives. We know that the community ITSELF will persevere - Christ said His Church shall not fail. Whether WE individually will remain within this Church, this community, that is not something absolutely certain at this time. I have seen too many people fall away and remain so to believe that is true. Too many people say "Lord, Lord". They will be surprised when Jesus responds "I never knew you. Away from me".
Regards