The Divine Nature : 2 Peter 1:3-7
EXPOSITORY ARTICLE | Chadwick Brewer | Richmond, Virginia
Peter’s preamble is poignant and powerful. Everything that follows is predicated on God’s divine power granting us all thing that pertain to life and godliness (v. 3). It is God who moves first to establish a relationship with man. It is not man that starts to build that relationship. In fact, man cannot.
God has granted us all things that pertain to life and godliness by revealing knowledge of Himself (v. 3). Since we are purpose-built in His image, it logically flows that God demonstrates all things needed for life and godliness in His character and nature. To know God is to know about how to live properly and be godly. To not know God is to be devoid of these things.
We all have been called by God, through the revelation of Him (by the person of Jesus and His divinely inspired word), to very great and precious promises (v. 3). These, again, He granted to us. These are not promises that we earned or achieved ourselves. Peter presses us to see just how much God has done for us. God’s actions ought to make our drive to action supremely imperative.
The Divine has allowed us the option to escape the corruption in the world by becoming partakers in His divine nature (v. 4). But what is this divine nature? I would suggest that it includes at least two things. First, it includes the new birth, being born of the Spirit (John 3:6). In this new birth of the Spirit, we are granted eternal life. We become heirs of the kingdom and are called children of God. In this way, we become partakers in the divine nature. Second, once we are born of the Spirit, we have to walk by the Spirit to produce fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:16-26). In these ways, we can be partakers in the divine nature.
Since we have been given this very precious promise, and the ability to partake in the divine nature, we should make every effort to partake in the divine nature fully (v. 5). We have begun to partake in the divine nature by being born of the Spirit through faith. Still, we must continue in the divine nature by walking according to the Spirit and adding to our faith. Faith that leads to salvation is a wonderful start, but we have been granted the ability to partake in the divine nature by growing to be more Christ-like. God has given us the tools and the ability to partake in the divine nature by keeping in step with the Spirit. Why would we not want to add to our faith?
Virtue/Moral excellence. This is the same word used in verse 3 to describe God in calling us to Himself. Virtue is a characteristic of His nature in which we are invited to share. We are called to be virtuous or morally excellent like He is virtuous. As Peter wrote in his previous letter, we are to be holy in all of our conduct as He is holy. This virtue or moral excellence can mean that we must hold a high moral standard. This excellence stands in sharp contrast to the moral standards that are held by the world.
Knowledge. Since God has granted us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him, it logically follows that growing in knowledge about Him will aid us in all things pertaining to life and godliness. More knowledge leads to more faith, aids in being more virtuous, provides self-control, builds one up for more steadfastness, helps us understand and apply love, and certainly helps us be more godly.
Self-control. Partaking of the divine nature must include an escape from corruption. To escape corruption is to live self-controlled and refrain from the temptations of the flesh. If we are born of the Spirit, then we must have our minds on the Spirit and walk according to the Spirit. Remember that God has given us a spirit of power and self-control!
Steadfastness. As we live in the new life, we will face trials and temptations that will tear at us and cause us to wrestle with our faith and our core values. Now that we have started to live by the Spirit, we must continue to walk according to the Spirit. We must have the steadfastness to meet those trials and temptations, lest we fall back and our later state be worse than our first.
Godliness. Godliness can be described as practicing virtuous moral standards, as previously mentioned. There is a progression, an addition, from virtue to godliness. One must first raise their moral standards and then strive to achieve those standards. One cannot achieve godliness without raising moral standards, nor does raising moral standards grant godliness automatically. One first raises the standards they hold for themselves in their heart, and then they strive towards that standard by a steady exercise of those standards in daily life.
Brotherly love. Brotherly love calls us to look outside of ourselves and towards the larger community of Christians. It goes beyond the ideas of self-control and steadfastness. It demands selfless actions towards those who have become members of ourselves. We are to look out for the interest of other Christians and count them as more significant than ourselves, just as Christ Jesus looked after our interest before His own. The divine nature puts others before self.
Love. Love is the next step in the progression above brotherly love. There is a shared kinship and bond between those of like-faith that does not exist outside of the church. Love for our brothers and sisters should come naturally to us since we are fellow heirs of the kingdom. But the divine nature calls us to have love for those outside of the body of Christ as well. We are called to grow to be truly selfless in loving those who currently are not a part of us.
If these qualities are ours and are increasing, they will keep us from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge that has been granted to us pertaining to life and godliness. Lacking these qualities makes us nearsighted to the point of blindness. Knowledge, true knowledge, that puts things into practice, gives us sight. However, knowledge that does not put what it knows into practice is blindness.
God has given us more than we can ask or imagine by giving us the ability to partake in the divine nature. Therefore, make every effort to be fruitful in the new life of the Spirit. Be all the more diligent in making your calling and election sure!
July 2021 | GROW magazine
