What a high and glorious privilege!
2 Peter 1:1-9
Peter asks graciously that grace and peace be multiplied to those who have received like precious faith, the faithful. Multiplied – such love he has for the faithful, the called of Christ Jesus, that they might realize that calling through God's grace, love, and peace.
More than that though, he informs them of the divine power given to them for life and godliness through seeking the knowledge of Him who gives them this life and holiness.
Most extraordinary are the exceedingly great and precious promises which enable them to be partakers of the divine nature. This is one of the most extraordinary statements made by any of the writers of New Testament. The called, the faithful, are partakersof His divine nature!
How can we be worthy of such a privilege and mystery? And yet we are because we believe in Jesus Christ and thereby become righteous through His nature. We inherit His character, His holiness; and His divine nature becomes part of us. This is how we become new creations in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17). As new creations we are sharers of this divine nature. For if we have been crucified in Christ Jesus, the life we now live in Christ Jesus is living in the spirit which He divinely ordained for us. (Gal. 2:20)
Remembering these precious promises, we participate in His divine nature; and we expect to grow in the knowledge of it (2 Pet. 3:18). Peter calls us to give diligence in this. Diligence is defined as careful and persistent work or effort. We are to care for this knowledge God has given us by His divine power, and to be persistent in working at it, not passively, but with effort.
Our faith grows as we seek to be virtuous and add virtue to our lives in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. As we do, the knowledge of Him – which is eternal life (Jn. 17:3) – takes control on a daily basis of all we do, think, and say, because we are seeking the things above where Christ dwells.
Yes it will take perseverance, being patient with ourselves when we fail, being patient with others when they fail to see Christ growing in us, persevering in all things. This leads to godly thinking, the pursuit of God, of reading, studying, meditating on His word, so that it becomes part of our nature which begins to be more evidently divine.
Increasingly, brotherly kindness will become evident as an aspect of our nature as well, issuing in the agape love that is characteristic of and evident in all those who pursue a divine nature.
Therefore, let us be diligent to abound in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, pursuing the character of Christlikeness to make our call and election sure (1 Pet. 1:10) in faithfulness that trusts in the precious promises, participating in His divine nature, in which we share.