Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Peter 3:1

"This is now, beloved, the second epistle that I write unto you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by putting you in remembrance;" — 2 Peter 3:1 (ASV)

“Dear friends” (lit., “beloved”; GK 28) is repeated in vv.8, 14, and 17 in this chapter (see also 1 Peter 2:11; 4:1). “This is now my second letter to you.” Does this refer to 1 Peter? Most commentators say yes. But this is not certain because (1) it has not been established that the recipients of the two letters are the same; (2) 1:12, 16 may imply a personal ministry to the recipients of this second letter that 1 Peter gives no indication of; (3) the description of the two letters (“both of them as reminders”) here does not fit 1 Peter very well; and (4) other letters of apostles have not been preserved (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:9; Colossians 4:16). None of these points is in itself very strong; yet taken together and when coupled with the lack of use of 1 Peter in 2 Peter, they raise a doubt that leaves the question open. “As reminders to stimulate you” is almost identical with “to refresh your memory” in 1:13. “To wholesome thinking” (lit. “to pure minds”) reflects the author’s goal to maintain in his readers a pure disposition.