Grace Bible Church Gillette, Wyoming

1. The believer has not been saved but then left to fend for himself in regard to provisions for the Christian life. Rather, the believer has been given everything he needs for “life and godliness.”

2. Such provision comes from a true knowledge (epignōsis – fuller or true knowledge) of Christ as Savior.

3. Such provision comes from a true knowledge of God in His revealed perfections and attributes (“glory and excellence”).

B. Partakers of Divine Nature (4)

1. Provided by His glory and excellence

a) It is through God’s perfections and attributes (“these” cf. “glory and excellence” vs. 3) that He is able grant promises of provision.

b) God would not be able to give what He did not also possess. God possesses eternal life; therefore, he is able to give eternal life to all who believe in Christ.

c) God possesses holiness and righteousness, therefore, God is able to impart His holiness and righteousness to believers.

2. Promises that are Precious and Magnificent

a) Through God’s attributes, He is not only able to grant all things necessary for life and godliness, but He grants those things through His promises contained in His Word.

b) Peter describes God’s promises as “precious” (timios – honorable or valuable, 1Pe 1:19; Rev 17:4). These promises are precious because they are given by Christ Himself who is the “precious Cornerstone” (1Pe 2:6), they include salvation which is a “precious value” (1Pe 2:7), and they lead to godly character which is “precious in His sight” (1Pe 3:4).

c) They are also “magnificent” (megistos – great or extraordinary, Joh 1:50). God’s promises are magnificent because there are none greater in degree nor in magnitude.

d) These words include all the divine promises for Gods own children contained in the Old and New Testaments (cf. 2 Cor. 7:1), such as: spiritual life (Rom. 8:9-13), resurrection life (John 11:25; 1 Cor. 15:21-23), the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:33; Eph. 1:13), abundant grace (John 10:10; Rom. 5:15, 20; Eph. 1:7), joy (Ps. 132:16; Gal. 5:22), strength (Ps. 18:32; Isa. 40:31), guidance (John 16:13), help (Isa. 41:10, 13-14), instruction (Ps. 32:8; John 14:26), wisdom (Prov. 2:6-8; Eph. 1:17-18; James 1:5; 3:17), heaven (John 14:13; 2 Peter 3:13), eternal rewards (1 Tim. 4:8; James 1:12). (MacArthur in loc.)

3. Partakers of the Divine Nature

a) By these promises, believers may become partakers of the divine nature.

b) ‘May become’ [aorist middle subjunctive of ginomai] is not intended to present merely a future possibility, but a present certainty. (MacArthur in loc.).

c) “Partakers” is the Greek word koinōnos and means fellowship, share, or partake. This does not mean that believers become God. Instead, it means that believers partake in a part of God’s nature which enables them to exhibit everything that pleases God pertaining to life and godliness. In other words, believers are now able to live the Christian life.

d) Believers are in this life partners in the very life that belongs to God (Col. 3:3; 1 John 5:11; cf. John 6:48-51). (MacArthur in loc.)

e) The “divine nature” (theios – that which pertains to a divine being, phusis – inherent nature or characteristics) refers to God’s inherent nature which he shares with the believer through the Holy Spirit. The believer’s new nature partakes of God’s nature in order to live in righteousness (cf. Rom 6:13; 8:4).

4. Purged from Corruption in the World

a) The phrase “having escaped” (apopheugō – to flee or escape from) is an aorist active participle denoting completed action.

b) Believers have also escaped the “corruption” (phthoras – corruption by sin, i.e. depravity and the destruction that it brings) that is in the world.

c) Though one of the effects of sin is physical death, even for believers (Heb 9:27), the believer has escaped the punishment of sin (Rom 6:23; 8:1) and the control of sin (Rom 6:12; 1Jo 3:2-3).

d) Because believers share in the divine nature, they are able to walk according to the Spirit and not the spirit of the world (Eph 2:2).

e) The sinful and worldly “lusts” (epithumia – passion and longing, both good and evil) no longer control the believer as they once did (Eph 2:3).

II. EXCELLENCIES FOR THE BELIEVER (1:5-9)

A. Christian Virtues Pursued After Salvation (5-7)

1. Moral excellence (5)

a) Apply all Diligence

(1) Since believers share in the divine nature, they will be able to exhibit certain attributes of God (communicable attributes). These attributes are what enable believers to live and please God in life and godliness.

(2) Salvation is faith alone in Christ alone without the believer’s works. However, sanctification is a cooperation between God and the believer. It is a cooperation between God’s divine nature in the believer and the believer’s obedience to God.

(3) Therefore, Peter explains that even though believers partake of the divine nature, they must “apply” (pareispherō – adding additional effort, do one’s very best) themselves to these attributes or virtues.

(4) “Diligence” (spoudê – genuine and active commitment, Rom 12:11) also suggests a cooperation with that which God has worked in the believer (cf. Php 2:12-13).

b) Add to your Faith

(1) The believer is to “supply” or add Christian virtues to his faith. No sanctification or Christian virtues could be added to a person until they come to faith in Christ.

(2) These Christian virtues are listed in verses 5 through 7. They are: moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.

c) Moral Excellence

(1) “Moral excellence” is the Greek word aretê and means virtuous as one who pursues and obtains virtues or godly attributes in their life.

(2) Moral excellence, in Classical Greek, referred to the highest pursuit of man. It was a term that was used for moral heroism.

(3) Moral excellence is inherent to God (1Pe 2:9; 2Pe 1:3).

(4) Moral excellence is that which is praiseworthy by God (Php 4:8).

(5) Moral excellence was spiritual heroism modeled by Paul (Php 3:12-14).

2. Knowledge (5)

a) “Knowledge” is gnosis and means comprehension or intellectual understanding. God possesses all knowledge (omniscience) (Rom 11:33).

b) Peter would primarily be referring to knowledge of Christ revealed in God’s revealed Word (Col 2:3 cf. 2Co 4:6; 10:5; 2Pe 3:18). It would not refer to the false knowledge of Gnosticism (1Ti 6:20).

III. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS

A. Gnostic Refutation

B. Charismatic and Contemplative Refutation

C. The Addition of Knowledge

IV. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS

A. Gnostic Refutation

1. It is noteworthy that Peter borrows from the terminology of mystical, pantheistic religion that called for its adherents to recognize the divine nature within them and lose themselves in the essence of the gods. Ancient false teachers (the Gnostics) and more recent ones (Eastern mystics and New Age gurus of all sorts) have often emphasized the importance of personally attaining transcendent knowledge. The apostle Peter, however, stressed to his readers the need to recognize that only by being spiritually born anew (John 3:3; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23) can anyone attain true divine knowledge, live righteously as Gods children (Rom. 8:11-15; Gal. 2:20), and thereby share in Gods nature (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17). The false prophets of Peters day believed that transcendent knowledge elevated people above any need for morality. But Peter countered that notion by asserting that genuine knowledge of God through Christ gives believers all they need to live godly lives (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16-17). (MacArthur in loc.)

B. Charismatic and Contemplative Refutation

Charismatics

Man was created in the god class, was not created in the animal class, it was the gods class. ..Alright, are we gods? We are a class of gods. (Kenneth Copeland Praise the Lord, TBN, 2/5/1986)

You dont have a god in you, you are one, (Kenneth Copeland, The Force of Love (Fort Worth, TX: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1987), audiotape #02-0028, side 1.)

I am a little messiah walking on earth,..... You are a little god on earth running around (Benny Hinn Praise-a-Thon TBN, Nov. 6 1990)

Though we are not Almighty God Himself, nevertheless, we are now divine (Benny Hinn, TBN, 12/1/90)

God is All in all in a very literal sense. All being is in Him Who is all Being. You are therefore in Him since your being is His. (Course in Miracles Text, p. 119)

Contemplatives

It is a glorious destiny to be a member of the human race, . . . now I realize what we all are. . . . If only they [people] could all see themselves as they really are . . . I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other. . . . At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusions, a point of pure truth. . . . This little point . . . is the pure glory of God in us. It is in everybody. (Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander (Garden City, NY: Doubleday Publishers, 1989), pp. 157-158)

Dr. Bruteau states: We have realized ourselves as the Self that says only I AM, with no predicate following, not I am a this or I have that quality. Only unlimited, absolute I AM [A Song That Goes On Singing Interview with B.B.].

God wants us to become Himself We are growing toward God. God is the goal of evolution (The Road Less Traveled, 1978. p. 270). M. Scott Peck)

What is it that God wants of us? It is for the individual to become totally, wholly God ( M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled p.283)

Divinity is not outside us. We are in God and God in us. That is the unitive experience of the mystics East or West (The Coming of the Cosmic Christ by Matthew Fox p.50)

The divine name from Exod. 3:14, I Am who I Am, is appropriated by Jesus who shows us how to embrace our own divinity. The Cosmic Christ is the I am in every creature (The Coming of the Cosmic Christ by Matthew Fox p.154)

Quantum spirituality is nothing more than your new account of everything old--your part of the I Am that we are.(Leonard Sweet; quoted in Tamara Hartzell's.. ReimaginingGod Turning the light off to look or truth in the corner of a dark round room)

Grace Bible Church · 4000 E. Collins Rd · PO Box #3762 · Gillette, WY · (307) 686-1516