“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.” (2Peter 1:3-4)
Peter summarized the calling and election of the new man, the man saved by grace, forgiven, holy and right before God because of the blood of the Lamb. There are several points in these two Scriptures beginning with “according to His divine power.” It was not anything that we did. Superior attitudes of the gifts, talents and positions in the church should not exist. We are not to lord it over one another. We are all benefactors of the grace of God. God was merciful to us, took every one of us out of the flames of hell and gave us life, godliness and the Holy Spirit to help us know Him. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Now we are born of God, children of God, placed in position of sonship, a position of glory along with our Savior. “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.” (Romans 8:16-17) And we sit with Jesus in the heavenlies, ruling and reigning with Him. “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:5-7) This is a repetition of what Paul had written earlier. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved.” (Ephesians 1:3-6)
The Father has made us “partakers of the divine nature,” His divine nature. That means having the same nature and character as God. This is why I truly believe that someone who has been redeemed, has received the Holy Spirit and has a new nature, the nature of God cannot possibly continue sinning. Yes, the flesh is always opposing God’s nature in us. Yes, it’s a struggle. But once we surrender to the Spirit of God, it’s done with. We experience the victory over it. Then again, the Holy Spirit will reveal something else in the flesh we must surrender. This process is continual until we see Jesus face to face and have been made in His image. “For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Romans 8:29) The Father who knows the end from the beginning saw those who would be redeemed. And He ordained and ordered that we should be made in all ways like Jesus. This is the process we are going through in struggles, learning how to be like Jesus.
Our Scripture for today ends with the words, “...having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. We know the world is corrupt. We know it’s heading for destruction along with all who have refused God’s merciful gift. The Lord God, our heavenly Father and merciful God has pulled us out of this world and set us in His kingdom, the kingdom of Jesus, the kingdom of light, of love, of peace and of life. Even thinking of this grace and goodness showed to us, gratitude rises up. It was all undeserved. There are some who refuse this gift because they love the things of this world. This world is refuse compared to God’s gift. Then there are those who want both worlds. They love the world but want God’s benefits. These do not sincerely love the Lord. They are imposters and belong to this world.
God requires our complete surrender. He has beautiful plans for us that go beyond our abilities, our desires, imaginations and limitations. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11) He plans for us to soar above the limitations of this world. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”(Isaiah 55:8-9) And in our journey with the Lord God, we discover at each step, unbelievable glory with Him and in Him.
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