The Call To Them To Remember What They Have Been Taught (2 Peter 3:1-2).
He calls to their minds his own previous letter. Later in the chapter he will also call to their mind the letters of Paul. He clearly considers that both are to be seen as Scripture. Compare how he had previously called to their attention the teaching of the prophets on the basis that they were also Scripture as men spoke from God moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:19-21). It is through these that they know the words of the prophets and the commandments of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, which they are to follow so that they walk in the true way, the way of righteousness.
For his call to remembrance here we can compare 2 Peter 1:12-13; 2 Peter 1:15. See also Acts 10:31, again in words of Peter. Peter was fond of bringing things to remembrance, following his Master's example.
‘This is now, beloved, the second letter that I write to you, and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by putting you in remembrance, that you should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandments of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles,'
Peter now refers them back to his first letter. There are no good grounds for not seeing this as referring to 1 Peter. In that letter also he had reminded them of the words of the prophets (1 Peter 1:10-12; compare 2 Peter 1:19-21), and of the teaching of Jesus Christ (given throughout the letter). Thus his great concern in both letters is seen to be to bring home to them the teachings of the prophets, and the teaching of Jesus Christ Himself, the latter as revealed through the Apostles who had been eyewitnesses and hearers of all that He did and said (1 Peter 5:1). Now he is reminding them of it again.
‘The commandments of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles,' might be referring to what Peter and his fellow-Apostles is now teaching them or it may be seen as pointing to a body of tradition established by the Apostles which provided basic details of Jesus' life and teaching. Such a tradition appears to underlie the Gospels. This may even have been in written form (see Luke 1:2). We can compare parallel references to ‘The Testimony of Jesus' (Revelation 1:2; Revelation 1:9; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 19:10; compare 1 Timothy 1:8).
‘To your sincere mind.' The word sincere means ‘judged by the sun'. In other words their minds have been brought into the light of the sun in order to demonstrate their genuineness. They are walking in God's light (1 John 1:5-7).
‘Through your Apostles.' Either the whole band as those appointed by Jesus Christ to be the source of His truth to His people as promised in John 14-16, or the particular members of that band who have been working among the recipients. This is in contrast to the false prophets who were leading many astray. He wants them to recognise where the true authority lay. They themselves enjoyed the blessing of being guided by the true Apostles of Christ, who were ‘their' Apostles because they themselves were the true people of God. It could even be that some of the false teachers were claiming to be Apostles (compare 2 Corinthians 11:12-13), something that Peter is rejecting here.
‘Putting you in remembrance.' It has been pointed out by sceptics that there is no mention in 1 Peter of ‘remembering', and it is true that the actual word is not found there. But it really cannot be doubted that much of his exhortatory material in 1 Peter 2:11 to 1 Peter 3:17; 1 Peter 4:1 to 1 Peter 5:10 is based on general Apostolic teaching which looked back to Jesus Christ Himself, which they already knew and which he is calling to their remembrance. So he is certainly ‘bringing it to their remembrance' there. There can be little doubt, therefore, that he would have seen himself as having ‘put them in remembrance' in both letters.
Note the double emphasis on remembrance here, ‘putting you in remembrance that you should remember'. Compare 2 Peter 1:12-13; 2 Peter 1:15 for similar repetition. For the connecting of the Prophets and the Apostles compare Luke 11:49; Ephesians 2:20; Ephesians 3:5.
The method of address, ‘beloved', parallels 1 Peter 2:11; 1 Peter 4:12. For ‘holy prophets' compare Peter's words in 2 Peter 1:21; and see his words in Acts 3:21. But see also Luke 1:70.