'Dear' in the Bible

Dear friends, this is now the second of two letters I am writing to you, in which I have been trying to stimulate your pure minds by reminding you

Don't forget this fact, dear friends: With the Lord a single day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a single day.

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to have the Lord find you at peace and without spot or fault.

Think of our Lord's patience as facilitating salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him.

And so, dear friends, since you already know these things, continuously be on your guard not to be carried away by the deception of lawless people. Otherwise, you may fall from your secure position.