2 Peter 1:1-4 - "Partakers of God's Nature"

2 Peter 1:1-4

"Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

To be a partaker of God’s Nature is an astonishing declaration. It confronts us immediately with the problem that religion consistently avoids: how can a sinner, fallen and corrupt, enter into fellowship with a God Who is Holy and Just? The world answers this with ideas of karma, self-improvement, or moral effort—suggesting that what we do now shapes some future bliss. Scripture exposes that thinking as false. Anything we do, even at our best, is unacceptable before the Holy God (Isaiah 64:6). The question is not what the sinner can do, but what God has done.

Peter writes to those who "have obtained like precious Faith" (v.1). That word "obtained" is critical. Faith is not achieved, earned, or produced by human effort. It is received. Scripture says, “Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (v.1). This Faith comes through Righteousness—but not ours. It comes through the Righteousness of God, even our Savior Jesus Christ. Christ Himself is the believer’s Righteousness.

When the LORD Jesus Christ came into this world, He did so to work out a perfect righteousness as a Man--in Flesh. He lived under the law, fulfilling it in thought, word, and deed, so that God might be just in putting that Righteousness to the account of His people. It is like precious Faith because it is the same Faith given to prophets, apostles, and believers in every age. There are not two ways of salvation. This Faith has the same Source—God Himself; the same Object—the LORD Jesus Christ; and the same result—Salvation.

Faith is precious because of what it does for the sinner. It is not a performance or an act of the will. It is the gift of believing God. It is the persuasion that God puts within the heart concerning His Son. Scripture teaches that where Christ’s righteousness is imputed, faith is also given to receive it. Abraham believed God because God had chosen him, revealed Himself in him, and purposed to save him in Christ. The same is true of all who believe. Faith follows God’s purpose and power, not man’s decision.

Peter says this salvation is “according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (v.3). Godliness is not worked up; it flows from Christ’s finished work. The apostle Paul desired to know Christ and “the power of his resurrection” (Philippians 3:10). That resurrection power declares that the Father accepted the Sacrifice of His Son. Christ was raised because redemption was accomplished. To know Him is to know that all things necessary for Life and Godliness are found in Him.

By these exceeding great and precious promises, believers are made partakers of the Divine Nature. This does not mean that believers become divine, nor that they escape the physical world. It means that through union with Christ, by the Spirit, they are brought into fellowship with God, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. This fellowship begins with regeneration. “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7). The Life of God is given to the sinner, not for the sinner’s sake, but for Christ’s sake.

To be a partaker of God’s Nature also means that Christ dwells in the believer by His Spirit. Scripture says, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Christ remains bodily seated at the Right Hand of the Majesty on high, yet He is present with His people through His Spirit. This indwelling is not temporary. God chose sinners in eternity past; in the fulness of the time, Christ died for those sinners on the cross; and, at regeneration, the Spirit gives life by the revelation of Christ in the hearts of those elect sinners. Therefore there is no sin for which God will later cast them away.

The apostle Paul testified, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20). Salvation is Christ’s work for us and Christ’s work in us. Christ is not merely the most important part of the believer’s life—He is our Life. Eternal life is not defined as a future condition but as the present knowledge of God in Christ. The LORD Jesus Himself said, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).

There is no life apart from Christ. To partake of God’s Nature is to be united to Him by Grace, through faith, in Christ alone.