Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Peter 3:15

"And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you;" — 2 Peter 3:15 (ASV)

And account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation. Regard his delay in coming to judge the world not as evidence that he will never come, but as proof of his desire that we should be saved. Many had drawn a different inference from the fact that the Saviour did not return, and had supposed it was proof that he would never come and that his promises had failed. Peter says that this conclusion was not authorized; rather, we should regard it as evidence of his mercy and his desire that we should be saved. This conclusion is as proper now as it was then. Wicked men should not infer, because God does not cut them down, that they will therefore never be punished, or that God is not faithful to his threats. They should rather regard it as proof that he is willing to save them, for:

1. He might justly cut them off for their sins;
2. The only reason we know of why he spares the wicked is to give them space for repentance; and
3. As long as life is prolonged, a sinner has the opportunity to repent and may turn to God.

We may therefore, in our own case, look on all the delays of God to punish—on all his patience and forbearance towards us, notwithstanding our sins and provocations, and on the numberless tokens of his kindness scattered along our way—as evidence that he is not willing that we should perish.

What an accumulated argument this would afford in any case of the willingness of God to save! Let any man look on his own sins, his pride, selfishness, and sensuality; let him contemplate the fact that he has sinned for many years and against many mercies; let him endeavor to estimate the number and magnitude of his offenses, and reflect upon God's patience in bearing with him while these were committed. Who can overrate the force of such an argument as proof that God is slow to anger and is willing to save? (See Barnes on Romans 2:4).

Even as our beloved brother Paul also. From this reference to Paul, the following things are clear:

1. That Peter was acquainted with his writings;
2. That he presumed that those to whom he wrote were also acquainted with them;
3. That Peter regarded Paul as a "beloved brother," notwithstanding the solemn rebuke which Paul had occasion to administer to him (Galatians 2:2 and following);
4. That he regarded him as an authority in inculcating the doctrines and duties of religion; and
5. That he regarded him as an inspired man, and his writings as a part of Divine truth. (See Barnes on 2 Peter 3:16).

That Peter showed in his epistles he was acquainted with the writings of Paul has been abundantly proved by Eichhorn (Einleitung in das N. Tes. viii. 606 and following) and will be apparent from a comparison of the following passages: Ephesians 1:3 with 1 Peter 3:1; Colossians 3:8 with 1 Peter 2:1; Ephesians 5:22 with 1 Peter 3:1; Ephesians 5:21 with 1 Peter 5:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:6 with 1 Peter 5:8; 1 Corinthians 16:20 with 1 Peter 5:14; Romans 8:18 with 1 Peter 5:1; Romans 4:24 with 1 Peter 1:21; Romans 13:1, 3, 4 with 1 Peter 2:13–14; and 1 Timothy 2:9 with 1 Peter 3:5.

The writings of the apostles were doubtless extensively circulated, and one apostle, though himself inspired, could not but feel a deep interest in the writings of another. There would also be cases, as in the instance before us, in which one would wish to confirm his own sentiments by the acknowledged wisdom, experience, and authority of another.

According to the wisdom given unto him. Peter evidently did not mean to disparage that wisdom or to express a doubt that Paul was endowed with wisdom. He meant undoubtedly that, concerning Paul, the same thing was true which he would have affirmed of himself or of any other man: that whatever wisdom he had was to be traced to a higher than human origin. This would at the same time tend to secure more respect for Paul's opinion than if he had said it was his own, and would maintain in the minds of those to whom he wrote a sense of the truth that all wisdom is from above. In reference to ourselves, our friends, our teachers, and all men, it is proper to remember that all true wisdom is from the Father of lights. (Compare James 1:6, 17).

Hath written unto you. It is not necessary to suppose that Paul had written any epistles addressed specifically and by name to the persons to whom Peter wrote. It is rather to be supposed that the persons to whom Peter wrote (1 Peter 1:1) lived in the regions to which some of Paul's epistles were addressed, and that these epistles might be regarded as addressed to them. The epistles to the Galatians, Ephesians, and Colossians were of this description, all addressed to churches in Asia Minor, and all, therefore, having reference to the same people to whom Peter addressed his epistles.