2 Peter 3:2

that ye should remember the words that were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles:

This outlines the things Peter wished to refresh the memory of in the minds of his readers. Wheaton observed that this verse "taken in general terms could describe the contents of 1Peter."[2] However, Wheaton voiced the usual reservation that,

"If this verse is taken as having to do with the second coming, it hardly describes Peter's first letter."[3] It is an unqualified mystery to this writer why some scholars are so up tight about Peter's intimation here that both epistles are concerned with the Christian's remembrance of vital truth. What truth? All truth revealed by the prophets and the apostles! True, Peter mentioned the second coming in this chapter; but that is by no means all of it. The doctrine of the end of the world, the salient features of the great apostasy, the forthcoming judgment of all mankind, the new heavens and the new earth, the inspiration of both the Old and the New Testaments, to name only a few things, and many, many other cardinal tenets of the Christian religion are copiously mentioned in both epistles. In this comprehensive view, the truth of which cannot be denied, Peter's bracketing both epistles as "reminding" the saints of these things is exactly what should have been expected. Peter did not mean that his epistles were carbon copies of each other. "His words do not exclude the supposition that their contents differ in many respects."[4]

By the holy prophets ... Even an innocent expression like this is pressed into service by the critics who assert that it indicates a later date, a time, they say, "when the reference to the prophets had become stylized!"[5] Only the advocates of a bankrupt cause would resort to an argument like that, especially in view of the facts that Luke mentioned "the holy prophets" (Luke 1:70), as did Peter also (Acts 3:21).

The commandment of the Lord and Saviour ... This is very significant as showing that Peter had no reference whatever to some single promise of the Lord, such as the Second Advent, but to the "commandment," a comprehensive term here standing for the totality of our Lord's teaching.

Through your apostles ... These were not "your missionaries," as alleged by some, but, "The apostles of Jesus Christ ... they alone were put on a level with the Old Testament prophets."[6] Note also that Peter included all the apostles as equal in authority with himself. As Caffin said, "We must therefore understand this passage, along with verse 15, as a distinct recognition of the apostleship of Paul."[7] Paine was also correct when he wrote, "This unaffected claim to apostleship, as though the writer realized it was known to all his readers, is a strong corroboration of Petrine authorship."[8] This expression, "your apostles" has also been seized upon as the basis of an allegation that post-apostolic time is indicated; however, as Robinson said, "This need not imply the end of the apostolic age, any more than when Paul said to the Corinthians, `If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you' (1 Corinthians 9:2)."[9] Far from indicating a late date and some forger as the author, this passage actually denies such a thing. "A later writer would have insisted upon asserting Peter's personal authority here."[10]

[2] David H. Wheaton, The New Bible Commentary, Revised (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), p. 1256.

[3] Ibid.

[4] R. H. Strachan, Expositor's Greek Testament, Vol. V (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), p. 114.

[5] Michael Green, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 2Peter (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1968), p. 125.

[6] Ibid.

[7] B. C. Caffin, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 22,2Peter (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 65.

[8] Stephen W. Paine, Wycliffe Bible Commentary, New Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p. 998.

[9] John A. T. Robinson, Redating the New Testament (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 179.

[10] Alfred Plummer, Ellicott's Commentary on the Holy Bible, Vol. VIII (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959), p. 458.