PARTAKERS OF GOD: AN EXEGESIS OF 2 PETER 1:3-4

PARTAKERS OF GOD: AN EXEGESIS OF 2 PETER 1:3-4

By Daniel McMillin

Possibly one of the most important questions anyone can ask concerning their lifestyle is: How do I live a good life? In response, it is clear that the Christian life is the only morally acceptable and objectively good life to live. It is because we are called to a higher power, and our lifestyle is held to the standard of God’s goodness and not our own definition of it. 2 Peter 1:3-4 supplies us with the answer for how to live the good life. At conversion, we are given everything we need to be like God from God through our knowledge of our God. In essence, Peter’s definition of the good life is to share in God’s goodness and be godly (goodness=godliness).

 Who is Peter referencing when He says, “His divine power”? Is it God the Father or God the Son? Thomas Schreiner helpfully explains the conversation in scholarship as it pertains to the subject Peter is referencing in this present text. He says, “Some commentators think Christ is in view since he is actually called God in v. 1. Others think it is more likely that Peter would refer to the Father as the one possessing ‘divine power.’ The immediate antecedent in v. 2 is Christ rather than God, and hence a reference to Christ would be natural. In addition, the word ‘power’ (dynamis) is also used in v. 16, where it clearly refers to Christ, suggesting that the same conclusion should be drawn here. Even though Peter likely refers to Christ, the language is ambiguous, and hence certainty is precluded. The ambiguity in the text indicates that Peter does not clearly distinguish between God and Christ, which indicates that God and Christ were venerated equally…the ambiguity points to the divine nature of both the Father and Jesus Christ and forms part of the material form, which doctrine of the Trinity was formulated.”[1] In essence, Peter understood the divine identity of Jesus well that he took for granted His association with the Father and Spirit as a person of the Trinity. When he says, “His divine nature,” he is unfazed by identifying Jesus with God.                            

Jesus “has granted to us,” that is, all believers, everything we need to live a godly lifestyle through our relationship with Him. That is, He has equipped us with every spiritual tool to build a spiritual lifestyle. These blessings center on our likeness to Him in this life and the next. God is the giver, and we are the recipients. “Only those who are godly will experience eternal life, and thus it is fitting that Christ’s ‘divine power’ is the source of godliness. Only God can make people godly.”[2]God has supplied us with “all things” exhaustively and exclusively. That is, God has given us everything we need, and there is no other source that has given us these things. Here, Guy N. Woods distinguishes between “life” as “spiritual vigor which the soul possesses” and “godliness,” which is “the conduct necessary to preserve and maintain” life.[3] As Peter talks about “life” he is referencing the eternal gift of salvation that we experience in this life and the life to come. “Believers have eternal life even now and yet await the day when such life will be consummated at the eschaton.”[4] Interestingly, Peter adds another dimension to this gift of life since he connects it with godliness. “Eternal life is not merely the experience of bliss but also involves transformation so that believers are morally perfected. Thus, believers should live in a godly way even now, though perfection in godliness will not be ours until the day Christ returns.”[5]

Peter describes Christians as the called, elect, or chosen ones in both letters (1 Pet. 1:1; 2 Pet. 1:3, 10). Peter is thus associating the identity of Christians with their salvation by God through the doctrine of predestination. “Those whom God saves are called by Christ, and this calling is accomplished through the knowledge of Christ’s divine moral excellence. In other words, when Christ calls people to himself, they perceive the beauty and loveliness of who he is. His character becomes exceedingly attractive to them, and they trust God for their salvation.”[6]

Notice Peter’s elevation of our God as it pertains to His divine “glory and goodness.” Christ’s “glory” is a reference to His “splendor and majesty as a divine being”[7] and His“goodness” is a reference to His “divine moral excellence.”[8] G.K. Beale asserts that “this glory” is “inextricably linked with Christ’s resurrection.”[9] Likewise, Richard Bauckham states that this is “presumably referring to the incarnate life, ministry, and resurrection of Christ, which is close to the above view that ‘glory’ focuses on Jesus’ s resurrection power.”[10] The basis for this adoration is God’s revelation and calling, which apply to our ethics and salvation. The majesty of God is the standard of our lifestyle as we are “called” to emulate God’s moral character as we experience this union with Christ. In essence, when we are in Christ, we are transformed by Christ to be like Christ. As we are united to Christ, we are no longer who we once were but are becoming what Christ is. Our closeness with Christ is an intimate bond that conforms us to His glorious image. Just like how our friends and family, the people we associate ourselves with, mold us into the people we are, we see that Christ does the exact same thing. As we are called into His presence, we experience sanctification through this close association with Him.

Before moving on to the next verse, it is important to note here that we are saved through the work of Christ by grace and not according to our own works. Thus, we are not saved by being a good person; rather, we are good people because we are saved. Those who are good people and live the good life are given what they need to be good people by God as He supplies them with all things that pertain to life and godliness, and He empowers them to live a good and godly life. “The church must not conclude that godliness comes from their own inherent abilities since the gifts given to believers are rooted in the knowledge of Christ. The revelation needed for eternal life is mediated through the knowledge of Christ, who calls believers to Himself.”[11]

God’s promises are a blessed assurance to His children because when God says something, it always comes true. God’s word is sure, and His promises are immutable, unalterable, and guaranteed. The Scriptures are filled with the wonderful promises of God and here we see who is the giver of these promises, the nature of these promises, and a glimpse into Peter’s specific promises of the eschaton that is developed in 2 Peter 3. “Believers inherit God’s promises as they come to know Christ, as they experience his moral excellence and glorious radiance in conversion. Great and precious promises have been given to believers through the gospel, a gospel that provides everything believers need.”[12] In 2 Peter 3:4, 9, the promises of God in the end-times are referenced to counter the false teacher’s denial of the second coming of Jesus and the destruction of creation. Peter has in view the promise of the Lord’s return as He ushers in the new world of the new heavens and new earth. His promise is that God will set things right in the world in the end.

In On the Incarnation, Athanasius famously said, “God became man that man might become God.”[13] Historically, this is what is called “theosis,” “divinization,” or “Christofication.” Sanctification through the incarnate Son is the key to understanding why God became man. “God the Son assumed or took on a human nature so that humans could see and be saved by the divine nature leading to their sanctification.”[14] For clarification, this does not mean we become divine. Theosis is different from what is called “apotheosis” We do not ontologically become divine. That is, as we partake in God’s characteristics, we are not granted the ability to say, “I am God” and become God as God is distinctively God. Instead, like Peter said, we become “partakers of the divine nature.”[15] In essence, Jesus’ incarnation allows us to share in the divine nature through His attributes of love, goodness, righteousness, etc., and we become caught up with or united with the life of God. That is why, as Irenaeus said, God became “what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself.”[16] Similarly, Clement of Alexandria wrote, “the Word of God became a man so that you might learn from a man how to become a god.”[17] Additionally, we become heirs of God through adoption since the Son of God became man so we may become sons of God. This understanding of the incarnation and its purpose allows us to see that God became man so we may become what God designed us to be.

The purpose of the incarnation was so we may be sanctified through sharing or partaking in the divine attributes. Sanctification appears to be a clearly Petrine introductory theme as he begins his first letter by saying, “the sanctification of the Spirit” (1 Pet. 1:2). And so, sanctification appears to be a primary concern for Peter as it pertains to our salvation and union with Christ. Sanctification is the process of purification by which God transforms His saints to be holy as He is holy (1 Pet. 1:15-16). While justification is being counted or declared righteous, sanctification is being made righteous. We are not okay with the way we were in our sins, and so we need to change; that is why we need a total transformation through redemption, regeneration, and restoration. Our reputation and relationship with God were broken due to the barrier of our sins; thus, we need justification and reconciliation. We need to be worked on because we cannot change on our own and will not enter God’s presence without it, and so we need sanctification and glorification. Christ is the only solution to receive any of these gifts of grace through His death, burial, and resurrection. Our adoption is the basis for our sanctification and glorification. Because we are sons and daughters of God, we can become partakers of God because we are now the adopted children of God. God grants us these qualities that allow us to share in His glorious attributes which allows us to live a good and godly life according to His moral character.

Peter concludes this section by reminding his readers that by receiving the promises of God and partaking in God’s nature they have “escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” Peter’s reference to “corruption” is a reference to the moral wickedness of the world as human beings have abandoned their original design as image-bearers of glory and have instead sought to become God rather than be like God. As Andreas Köstenberger notes, “The reference to the world’s corruption sets an end-time frame for Peter’s letter that is maintained throughout the epistle and comes to the fore, especially in the third chapter, which is given to a denunciation and refutation of the false teachers’ denial of the Christian teaching of the second coming of Christ.”[18] Those who have been saved by God have escaped this reality as “they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge” of the “Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 2:20). Interestingly, in both places, Peter does not say that they will escape but that they have already escaped this corruption. This provides the reader comfort as they approach the impending judgment and understand that God will deliver them from the condemnation. “Peter operates with an already-but-not-yet schema. Believers have already escaped the world’s corruption in that they begin to God, but the full realization of liberation will be theirs on the day of resurrection.”[19]

In conclusion, we see that God has truly blessed us with everything we need. He has supplied us with all things that we need to live in this life and to be like Him as He has revealed Himself and granted to us true knowledge, He has called us into His likeness, He has spoken these powerful and precious promises, He has allowed us to share in His likeness, and He has rescued us from moral corruption. We serve a God of glory who does not abandon us but constantly aids us as we pursue His “glory and excellence” and live a good and godly life.

[1] Thomas R. Schreiner, 1&2 Peter and Jude, 344.

[2] Schreiner, 1&2 Peter and Jude, 345.

[3] Guy N. Woods, A Commentary on the New Testament Epistles of Peter, John, and Jude (Nashville, TN: Gospel Advocate Company, 1959), 148.

[4] Schreiner, 1&2 Peter and Jude, 344-345.

[5] Schreiner, 1&2 Peter and Jude, 345.

[6] Schreiner, 1&2 Peter and Jude, 346.

[7] Schreiner, 1&2 Peter and Jude, 346.

[8] Schreiner, 1&2 Peter and Jude, 346.

[9] G.K. Beale, Union with the Resurrected Christ, 424.

[10] Bauckham, Jude, 2 Peter, 179.

[11] Schreiner, 1&2 Peter and Jude, 345.

[12] Schreiner, 1&2 Peter and Jude, 347.

[13] Athanasius, On the Incarnation, 54.3.

[14] DeBord, “The Necessity of the Human and Divine Natures in Christ.”

[15] “Believers share in the divine nature in that they will be morally perfected; they will share in the moral excellence that belongs to God (1:3). Believers will ‘participate () in the divine nature, but they will not become gods.” (Schreiner, 1&2 Peter and Jude, 348)

[16] Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 5.

[17] Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Greeks, 1.

[18] Köstenberger 155.

[19] Schreiner, 1&2 Peter and Jude, 349.