Divine Nature

Divine Nature

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 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. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:2-8)

In defining Divine Nature, I have a quick answer. It is to possess all the attributes that make God who He is. Sanctification is not an instant thing and is a lifelong work to complete. It is our faith in Jesus Christ that assures our success.

We know God is a God of order and complete and perfect. The Apostle Peter captured that order for us in the text we read in chapter one of his second letter. Grasping a Divine Nature in our lives would require us to follow the order Peter has laid out before us. Jesus came and lived a perfect, righteous life, which made Him, a man, the perfect sacrifice for our sins on the cross. Jesus fulfilled the Law of Moses through His perfect, righteous life, freeing us from obtaining something we could never do, living in righteousness. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus summed up the law in two commands. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)

As we look in our text, verses three and four read, “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.” We have received promises throughout our lives, many of which have not come true. These promises come from God and are truths that are eternal currency. God has promised us an eternal family in His Kingdom forever. We have part of that eternal family here today, and in the not-so-far future, we will have the complete eternal family in His Kingdom.

We also are partakers of His Divine Nature today, as our faith has justified us in the eyes of God, and He sees us through the Righteousness of Jesus. God is eternal and no longer sees us as we are but as we will be. Therefore, we have a Divine Nature today and are partners with Jesus in His work in the world.

Next, verse five reads, “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,” God has shown His mercy on us, and by His grace through faith, we have been saved, or set apart for His purposes. Our faith in Christ has justified us, and we were given the power of the Holy Spirit, our Counselor leading us to all truth. God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are equally God. Having the Holy Spirit within us is having the power of God abiding with us, and with God, nothing is impossible, and we can do all the Spirit asks of us. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”  (Philippians 4:13)

The Holy Spirit is God’s Counselor, leading us to all truth. In our time of need, the Spirit will give us the truth to speak, as He only speaks what He hears from God. The Apostle Paul warns us about the Holy Spirit, “Do not quench the Spirit.” (I Thessalonians 5:19). The Holy Spirit is our helper and will guide us in the good work the Lord has provided us to accomplish. We must be diligent in our faith in His Word spoken to us, which will supply moral excellence, increasing our knowledge of who God is and what he wants for us.

In verse six, “And in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness.” Bible study and prayer go together. I read the bible as God’s personal prayer to me, which means I don’t read the bible as any other book. I am not trying a quick read to get to the climax, as every verse has its own message. Jesus is our living Savior, and His Word lives in our hearts, bringing a new message as we contemplate and listen to the Spirit. We learn to live as He created us to be, which causes us to exercise self-control over our actions. That is not always easy, and it demands that we persevere in our efforts to control our emotions, which control our actions. For me, the greater advantage is that we gain a deeper understanding of God, allowing us to live in godliness—a great aid in times of temptation. By adding godliness, we keep our goodness from being human goodness. What we are working for is godly goodness.

In verse seven, we read, “And in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.” Godly goodness adds moral excellence to our ordinary temporary goodness. We are also told to add brotherly kindness or affection, which motivates us to have goodness for each other. Brotherly kindness brings our church family together just as our family has kindness toward family members. We have often heard that blood is thicker than water, meaning we have quarrels with family members, but if an outsider has the same argument, it could come to blows. If we treated our church family as we treat our home family, or visa versa, it would bring a lot of harmony in our lives. We don’t always like everyone in our group, but when we practice kindness, we may also learn to like them.

Lastly, we reach the pinnacle of quality love. God’s greatest attribute is love, and all He does is in the motivation of His love. Jesus was motivated by His love for the Father and us. The word Peter uses for love is agape, which is a selfless, sacrificial concern for the good of others. When we treat our family members with these qualities, we form an admirable Christian character noticeable to all, particularly those of the world, where the church body is to practice our godliness as a witness.

The last verse, eight, reads, “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Peter is expressing to us that if we have these qualities growing in us, we will be effective and productive people who know God. If we live knowing God and He knows us, we can effectively be bearers of His light into the darkened world about us. People may admire, question, or mock us, but they will see God’s truth in us. Our work is to plant visual and spoken seed into their lives that God can cause them to grow or judge. “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

Thomas N Kirkpatrick

First Baptist Church of Durant, April 10, 2024