Forgivenbadboy's blog: "The Way, the Truth & the Life"

Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises,
so that through them you may participate in the divine nature,
having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
2 Peter 1:4 NIV

by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises,
that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature,
having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2 Peter 1:4 NKJV



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context
really, for todays context,(verses b4&After)
nearly make for devotion & commentary
starting at verse 2 :-)
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V
2Grace and peace be multiplied to you
through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness
through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

4Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises,
so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature,
now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;…
…6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;
7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. [emphasis added]


cont...
v8 For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them,
they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.…

…9 But whoever lacks these traits is nearsighted to the point of blindness,
having forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.
For if you practice these things you will never stumble,
11 and you will receive a lavish reception,
into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.…
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MEMES








exhaustive commentary,
for you who want to dig deeper
2 Peter 1:4

Ellicott's Commentary
That by these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature; literally, that through these (promises, i.e., through their fulfillment) ye may beeome partakers. It is true that the verb is aorist (ãέíçóèå), but it does not follow that, might be" is the right translation, or that the writer regarded the participation as having already taken place (comp. John 12:36, "Believe in the light, that ye may be (ἵíá ãέíçóèå) the children of light"). As Alford says, the aorist seems to imply "that the aim was not the procedure, but the completion, of that indicated; not the ãίíåóèáé, the carrying on the process, but the ãåíέóèáé, its accomplishment." The end of God's gift is the complete accomplishment of his gracious purpose, but it is only by continual growth that the Christian attains at length to that accomplishment. St. Peter's words seem very bold; but they do not go beyond many other statements of Holy Scripture. At the beginning God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." St. Paul tells us that believers are now "changed into the same image from glory to glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18; comp. also 1 Corinthians 11:7;
Christians, born of God (John 1:13; 1 Peter 1:23), are made "partakers of Christ" (Hebrews 3:14), "partakers of the Holy Ghost" (Hebrews 6:4).
Christ prayed for us that we might be "made perfect in one" with himself who is one with God the Father, through the indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost the Comforter
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Matthew Henry Commentary
1:1-11 Faith unites the weak believer to Christ, as really as it does the strong one, and purifies the heart of one as truly as of another;
and every sincere believer is by his faith justified in the sight of God.
Faith worketh godliness, and produces effects which no other grace in the soul can do.
In Christ all fulness dwells, and pardon, peace, grace, and knowledge, and new principles, are thus given through the Holy Spirit.
The promises to those who are partakers of a Divine nature, will cause us to inquire whether we are really renewed in the spirit of our minds;
let us turn all these promises into prayers for the transforming and purifying grace of the Holy Spirit.
The believer must add knowledge to his virtue, increasing acquaintance with the whole truth and will of God.
We must add temperance to knowledge; moderation about worldly things;
and add to temperance, patience, or cheerful submission to the will of God.
Tribulation worketh patience, whereby we bear all calamities and crosses with silence and submission.
To patience we must add godliness: this includes the holy affections and dispositions found in the true worshipper of God;
with tender affection to all fellow Christians, who are children of the same Father, servants of the same Master, members of the same family, travelers to the same country, heirs of the same inheritance.
Wherefore let Christians labour to attain assurance of their calling, and of their election, by believing and well-doing;
and thus carefully to endeavor, is a firm argument of the grace and mercy of God, upholding them so that they shall not utterly fall.
Those who are diligent in the work of religion, shall have a triumphant entrance into that everlasting kingdom where Christ reigns,
and they shall reign with him for ever and ever;
and it is in the practice of every good work that we are to expect entrance to heaven.

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John Gills (usually my favorite)
Exposition/communtary of the Bible

2 Peter 1:4
[Whereby are given unto us]
Or "by which", that is, glory and virtue; by the glorious power of Christ, or by the glorious and powerful Gospel of Christ; and so the Arabic version renders it, "by both of which"; or "by whom", as the Vulgate Latin version reads; that is, by Christ; for as in him are all the promises of God, so they are at his dispose, and by him are given unto the saints:

[exceeding great and precious promises;]
meaning the promises of the new and everlasting covenant, of which Christ is the Mediator, surety, and messenger; and which are "exceeding great", if we consider the author of them, who is the great God of heaven and earth, and who was under no obligation to make promises of anything to his creatures; and therefore must arise from great grace and favour, of which they are largely expressive, and are like himself; are such as become his greatness and goodness, and are confirmed by his oath, and made good by his power and faithfulness: and they are also great, as to the nature and matter of them; they are better promises than those of the covenant of works; they are not merely temporal ones, nor are they conditional and legal; but as they relate to things spiritual and eternal, to grace here and glory hereafter, so they are absolute, free, and unconditional, and are irreversible and unchangeable; and they answer great ends and purposes, the glory of God, and the everlasting good and happiness of his people; and therefore must be "precious", of more value and worth than thousands of gold and silver, and to be rejoiced at more than at the finding of a great spoil, being every way suited to the cases of God's people, and which never fail. The end of giving them is,

[that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature;]
not essentially, or of the essence of God, so as to be deified, this is impossible, for the nature, perfections, and glory of God, are incommunicable to creatures; nor, hypostatically and personally, so as the human nature of Christ, in union with the Son of God, is a partaker of the divine nature in him; but by way of resemblance and likeness, the new man or principle of grace, being formed in the heart in regeneration, after the image of God, and bearing a likeness to the image of his Son, and this is styled, Christ formed in the heart, into which image and likeness the saints are more and more changed, from glory to glory, through the application of the Gospel, and the promises of it, by which they have such sights of Christ as do transform them, and assimilate them to him; and which resemblance will be perfected hereafter, when they shall be entirely like him, and see him as he is:

[having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust;]
not the corruption and depravity of nature, which is never escaped by any, nor got rid of so long as the saints are in the world; but the corrupt manners of the world, or those corruptions and vices which, are prevalent in the world, and under the power and dominion of which the world lies; and particularly the sins of uncleanness, adultery, incest, sodomy, and such like filthy and unnatural lusts, which abounded in the world, and among some that called themselves Christians, and especially the followers of Simon Magus. Now the Gospel, and the precious promises, being graciously bestowed and powerfully applied, have an influence on purity of heart and conversation, and teach men to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly; such are the powerful effects of Gospel promises, under divine influence, as to make men inwardly partakers of the divine nature, and outwardly to abstain from and avoid the prevailing corruptions and vices of the times.

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Bonus Meme/verse(s)