Partakers Of The Divine Nature

 

“His divine power has given us everything we need for godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us great and precious promises, so that through them you may be partakers in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world by evil desires.”                                                                                                                                                    - 2 Peter 1:3-4

I pondered this verse wondering what it means. Can we as sinful humans be partakers of God’s holy nature? Seems impossible. One commentator said that regarding our partaking is “that we do not become God, but we possess the righteousness that comes from God and share fellowship with the Godhead.”             

It is true. We who are in Christ are partakers of God’s nature because we are born again. It is the only way we can be accepted as children of God. Without God’s Holy Spirit we are dead husks. Understand the reason we have God’s Spirit is so that we can conform into Christ’s image (Romans 8:29). We were saved not to live unto ourselves, but to be holy and blameless in Christ (Ephesians 1:4).  

Being partakers of the divine nature means we have been transformed. We have gone from death to life. Wickedness to righteousness. From spiritual darkness to children of light (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13;2 2 Corinthians 5:17; John 12:36). As partakers of the divine nature, we are new creations in Christ Jesus. The old man has died with his deeds. God has retrofitted the new man and woman to serve God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The work of the new man is to always meditate on God’s word so that the truths of scripture do not become and dull and lose their vigor in one’s life. God’s word is the power unto salvation and that same word is what continues to cause us to look more like Christ when applied to our lives. I heard one person say a long time ago, “wisdom is knowledge applied.”  How does that axiom apply to us as believers? When we read and understand the word of God that is knowledge. When we put Godly knowledge to practice in our lives that is wisdom or being wise. Proverbs 1:7 says, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

As partakers of the divine nature, we have been lavishly graced. God has lovingly favored us with His own Spirit! This was an easy gift for God to give to us because Christ did the hard work when He died for our sins. In Romans 8:31 Paul says, “what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will he not also with Him graciously give us all things?”

Because of Jesus we have an eternal relationship with the Godhead and all the Saints forever.