But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. (Jas 1:4)
In this verse, as a result of patience (alt. endurance [Gk. υπομονη]) results in a Christian “perfect” (τελειος). This term, τελειος, is stronger than the words Paul uses of “scripture” in 2 Tim 3:17, ἄρτιος and ἐξαρτίζω. BDAG, with reference to this verse, offers the meaning of "pert. to meeting the highest standard" and "pert. to being fully developed in a moral sense"
7298 τέλειος
• τέλειος, α, ον (Hom. [e.g. Il. 24, 34 of unblemished sacrificial animals] +) gener. ‘attaining an end or purpose, complete’.
1. pert. to meeting the highest standard
a. of things, perfect
α. as acme of goodness, as adj. (ἀρετή Did., Gen. 40, 19.—Of aeons, Iren. 1, 1, 1 [Harv. I 8, 2]; Hippol., Ref. 6, 31, 4) ἔργον Js 1:4a (s. ἔργον lb); cp. ISm 11:2. δώρημα Js 1:17 (s. δώρημα). νόμος vs. 25 (opp. the Mosaic law). ἀγάπη 1J 4:18. ἀνάλυσις 1 Cl 44:5 (Just., D. 41, 1). γνῶσις 1:2; B 1:5. πρόγνωσις 1 Cl 44:2. μνεία 56:1. ἐλπίς ISm 10:2 (v.l. πίστις); χάρις 11:1. νηστεία Hs 5, 3, 6. ναός B 4:11 (ἐκκλησία Did., Gen. 69, 14). τελειοτέρα σκηνή (s. σκηνή 2) Hb 9:11.—Subst. τὸ τέλειον what is perfect Ro 12:2; perh. 1 Cor 13:10 (opp. ἐκ μέρους. S. EHoffmann, ConNeot 3, ’38, 28-31). ἐνάρετον καὶ τέλειον (someth.) virtuous and perfect IPhld 1:2. W. gen. τὸ τέλειον τῆς γνώσεως ἡμῶν the full measure of our knowledge B 13:7. Pl. (Philo) τέλεια what is perfect ISm 11:3b (Tat. 13, 2 τὰ τέλεια).
. . . .
4. pert. to being fully developed in a moral sense
a. of humans perfect, fully developed (Hippol., Ref. 1, 19, 16) in a moral sense τέλειος ἀνήρ Js 3:2 (s. RHöistad, ConNeot 9, ’44, p. 22f). τὸν τέλειον ἄνθρωπον GMary 463, 26f (restored). Mostly without a noun εἰ θέλεις τέλειος εἶναι Mt 19:21 (EYarnold, TU 102, ’68, 269-73). Cp. IEph 15:2; D 1:4; 6:2. Pl. Mt 5:48a; ISm 11:3a. W. ὁλόκληροι Js 1:4b. W. πεπληροφορημένοι Col 4:12.
Now, if one wishes to absolutise Jas 1:4 vis-à-vis “perseverance” as many Protestants do with “scripture” in 2 Tim 3:16-17, this is biblical proof for the formal sufficiency of perseverance, and all other sources, scripture include, must be subordinated thereto! Of course, such is eisegesis, but it shows that the common Protestant abuse of 2 Tim 3:16-17 results in all types of interpretive nonsense.
Now, some might try to counter this by arguing that Paul uses different terms for the nature of scripture than the term James uses in Jas 1:4 for perseverance/patient. However, such is fallacious for many reasons, as it is question-begging and special-pleading to the max, as well as the fact that τελειος is a more potent term than the terms used in 2 Tim 3:17.
As one commentator on the Epistle of James wrote on this verse:
You might be perfect and complete: The term “perfect” now shifts from the action to th person: “you are the perfect work” (Dibelius, 74). The deed perfects the person (see 1 Cor 2:6; Eph 4:13; Phil 3:15; Col 1:28; 4:12; Matt 5:48; 19:31; also Wis 9:6; Sir 44:17; Philo, Allegorical Laws 3:45-49). The adjective holokērein, which means to be in good health, and has the nuance of “wholeness” or “soundness” in contrast to the disease (Acts 3:16). See the LXX usage with respect to “intact” stones (Deut 7:6; Josh 9:2), translating šlm. In moral discourse, see Plato, Laws, 759C, see also “complete piety” in 4 Macc 15:17. The idea of perfection here is similar to that in Matt 5:48. (Luke Timothy Johnson, The Letter of James [AB 37A; Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1995], 178-79)
A similar parallel verse to 2 Tim 3:16-17 would be 2 Tim 2:21:
If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
The term translated as "prepared" is ἡτοιμασμένον is the perfect passive participle of ἑτοιμάζω, "to cause to be ready, put/keep in readiness, prepare" per BDAG.
Such a term has a similar semantic range as αρτιζω in Tim 3:17 and can refer to an ordinary preparation or a superlative divine preparation (cf. Matt 20:23; 22:4; 1 Cor 2:9). A Protestant may object that this verse is not speaking about the source of one's ability to engage in the work, but sanctification in the person's life. However, such an attempted dichotomy into the discussion, an apologist for sola scriptura conveniently confines "source" to revelatory dimensions and thereby misses the whole point of Paul's contextual argument--an argument designed not to a single source or make exclusive revelatory sources but to direct Timothy to whatever will help him become the man of God he desires to be and to teach others to do the same.
When one examines parallel passages to 2 Tim 3:16-17, we find that they refute the absolutised and eisegetical reading of this passage to support sola scriptura, the formal doctrine of Protestantism.
