2 Peter 3
3:1 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to YOU. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate YOU to wholesome thinking. 2 I want YOU to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
So, who are the "you" in the above two verses:
2 Peter 1:1
1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
NIV
And,
1 Peter 1:1-2
1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
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Back to 2Pet 3:
3 First of all, YOU must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone [i.e. any of you] to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
14 So then, dear friends, since YOU are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17 Therefore, dear friends, since YOU already know this, be on your guard so that YOU may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
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Here's my brief exposition of this passage which I wrote several months ago on another thread:
You're misunderstanding 2 Pet 3. God is patient toward the elect, not the world. You have to pay close attention to the pronouns and the terms of endearment that Peter uses in this passage. Who are the people he's addressing in v. 11, v.12, v.13? And who are the "dear friends" in vv. 8, 14 and 17? And in v. 9, who is God patient towards -- who are the 'you" in this verse: the world or the Jewish believers to whom Peter was writing? If Paul is saying in v. 9 that God doesn't want anyone in the entire world to perish, then why didn't Peter say that God is patient with the entire world? It seems to me that God would be patient toward those he doesn't want to perish. Peter was writing to believers who were in danger of falling away due to all the false teaching they were receiving. In fact, Peter exhorts his brothers strongly in 1:10 to be all the more eager to make "your calling and election sure". Hence, why God wants them to come to repentance (3:9).
Also, if Peter was saying that God doesn't want anyone in the entire world to perish, then why didn't he warn the entire world to "not be carried away by the error of lawless men" (v.17)? Instead, Peter warns God's elect!
Also, if Peter had written in v. 9 that God doesn't "want any of you to perish) (instead of anyone), it would not change the sense of the passage since the "anyone", "you" and "dear friends" in the context, is the original audience to whom Peter was writing.
