What is the context?
The opening therefore connects this passage to the end of chapter 1. Paul now addresses the person who passes judgment on others while also practicing wrongdoing. Recognizing another person’s sin does not establish the judge’s innocence.
God’s judgment is based on truth. Paul challenges the assumption that someone who condemns the same behavior in others will escape that judgment. The issue is hypocrisy, not a declaration that there is no such thing as right or wrong.
He then asks what the reader makes of God’s kindness, tolerance and patience. A delay in judgment is an opportunity to repent, to turn from wrongdoing toward God. Treating that kindness as permission to continue only stores up wrath for the day when God’s righteous judgment is revealed.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christians commonly read these verses as a warning against condemning others while excusing oneself. God’s patience calls for a changed response; it is not proof that He approves of whatever someone is doing. The passage challenges a self-satisfied reader rather than allowing that reader to remain outside Paul’s account of sin.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
2 Peter 3:8–10 also connects God’s patience with repentance while maintaining the reality of coming judgment. The delay serves mercy without making wrongdoing harmless.
This helps explain the place of Paul’s warning within the gospel he has introduced. God’s kindness is meant to draw the reader toward Him. The reader who sees only other people’s need for repentance has missed the invitation being extended to them as well.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.