EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/03/2025 7:50 PM
My Worship Time Focus: “Divine Promises”
Bible Reading and Meditation Reference: 2 Peter 1:4
Message of the verses: “For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”
It is Christ’s glory as God and His excellence as the perfect Man attract people to a saving relationship with Him. By these attributes of glory and excellence He has accomplished all that is necessary for believers’ salvation, so that He also granted to them His precious and magnificent promises. Now the term that is rendered has granted is from the same verb (doreomai) that occurs in verse three, again in the perfect tense, which describes past action with continuing effects.
“Peter describes all the salvation promises in Christ as precious (timios) and magnificent (megistos), meaning ‘valuable’ and ‘greatest,’ respectively. These words include all the divine promises for God’s own children contained in the Old and New Testament (cf. 2 Cor. 7:1), such as: spiritual life (Rom. 8:0-13), 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 14:1-3; 2 Peter 3:13), eternal rewards (1 Tim. 4:8; James 1:12).
“The Lord bestows all these so that belivers may become full partakers of the divine nature. First, may become is not intended to present merely a future possibility, but a present certainty. The verb builds on all Peter has written. He has said that in salvation saints are called effectually by God through the true knowledge of the glory and excellence of Christ, and thus they receive everything related to life and godliness, as well as priceless spiritual promises. It is because of all that believers may become, here and now, possessors of God’s own eternal life (cf. John 1:12; Rom. 8-9; Gal. 2A:20; Col. 1:27). Partakers (koinonos) is often translated ‘fellowship,’ and means ‘sharer’ or partner.’ 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).
“From what they do partake in, Peter turns to what believers do not partake in, the corruption that is in the world by lust. Those who share the eternal life of God and Christ have completely escaped the effects of sin (Phil 3:20-21; 1 John 3:2-3; cf. Titus 1:2; James 1:12; 1 John 2:25; Rev. 2:10b-11). Corruption (phthora) denotes and organism discomposing or rotting, and its accompanying stench. The world’s moral decomposition is driven by sinful lusts (epitumia), ‘evil desire’ (1 John 2:16; cf. Eph. 2:3; 4:22). Having escaped depicts a successful flight from danger, in this case the effects of one’s fallen nature, the sinfulness of the decaying world, and its final destruction (cf. Phil. 3:20-21; 1 Thess. 5:4, 9-10; Rev. 20:6). At glorification, believers will be redeemed completely so that they possess eternal life in perfect holiness in a new heaven and new earth where no sin or corruption will ever exist (cf. Rev. 21:1-4; 22:1-5).
“It is noteworthly 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 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 God’s children (Rom. 8:11-15; Gal. 2:20), and thereby share in God’s nature (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17). The false prophets of Peter’s 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).”
Lord willing in tomorrow evenings SD we will begin looking at chapter 2 from John MacArthur’s commentary “The Believer’s Precious Faith—Part 2: Its Certainty (2 Peter 1:5-11).
10/3/2025 8:27 PM
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