Divine Power - Divine Nature

“Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”  2 Peter 1:3-4

Certain passages of Scripture simply take one’s breath away.

To those He has called, God has promised “everything pertaining to life and godliness.” He has provided all that we need to live godly and productive lives. It is “His divine power” (emphatic in the Greek text), imparted to us in the person of the indwelling Holy Spirit, which makes this possible.

In order to properly utilize our resources, we must continue to grow in “the true knowledge of Him.” Only then can attain any measure of His “glory and excellence.” He has empowered us to reflect His glorious character and virtuous acts as we know who He is and what He has done. In so doing, we are “partakers of the divine nature” (also emphatic in the Greek).

Initially, of course, at the point of salvation we are given the Holy Spirit, always present in the life of a believer. As we increase in the knowledge of Him and yield to the work of the Spirit, our nature is ever more conformed to the divine nature of Jesus Christ.

The appropriation of divine power to sample the divine nature comes to us through “precious and magnificent promises” bestowed by His glory and virtue. Since God has promised, these promises are sure, and through them we have “escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”