Bearing the Fruit of the Divine Nature

Participating in the Divine Nature necessarily requires us to intertwine our nature with His. By doing so, the light of His nature will shine on the darkness of our nature and allow us to see and to shed our darkness for His light.

There is a lot of stuff in the passage of 1 Peter 1:2-14, but a couple of things stand out to me. One is becoming a partaker of the Divine Nature, the other is that if we are par takers, we will be “neither barren (useless) nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”. A partaker is, according to Strong’s dictionary, a sharer, an associate, a companion, a partner.

So what is, exactly, the Divine Nature that Peter speaks of? I believe it to be far too extensive to completely catalog here, even if one could, but a good definition would likely be “all things Godly”, and would encompass God’s beliefs, thoughts and actions. Peter helps us out by giving a few examples. He exhorts us to add to our faith virtue (moral excellence), to virtue knowledge (of God, His ways, and creation), to knowledge temperance (self-control), to temperance patience (perseverance, endurance, patient continuance), to patience godliness (devotedness, holiness), to godliness brotherly kindness (love of the brethren, both saved and unsaved), and to brotherly kindness charity (love, affection, benevolence).

Meditating on this passage shows me that we are to add upon the previously stated attribute, building our lives up in God’s ways one step at a time. As we exercise these attributes more and more we strengthen the previous attributes as we go. They are, in essence, a ladder which we may climb to extract ourselves from the ways of the world and become a godlier people.

Why partake of the Divine Nature? There are several reasons. One is because that partaking is part of our original design. It is God’s will and desire for us to commune intimately with Him. Adam and Eve were partakers of the Divine Nature, being entwined with God in the Garden of Eden until the day they chose to disobey.

Since we are products of a fallen generation, another reason to partake is to deepen our walk with God. Partaking causes us to examine every aspect of our lives in the Light of God and to purge our worldly ways in order to please and glorify Him.

Yet another reason is that partaking allows us to identify and conquer, through His Might and Wisdom, strongholds in our lives. Those areas that we have given ground to the evil one throughout the course of our lives that hinder our walk and cause us to stumble.

Finally, partaking of the Divine Nature purifies us, draws us closer to God, and allows His Divine Fruit to fill our lives to the point of overflowing into the world around us. His Divine overflow will spill forth into the lives around us, becoming evidence of His Goodness and Holiness, and make us fishers of men. God Himself will fulfill the Great Commission if we simply seek Him and obey. He is the only one who can truly call someone, and it is His Divine Nature that will speak to others.

How? All of the above attributes are built upon our faith in Him, which we have received from Him. We receive all these things through His great and precious promises that He gave by His glory and virtue, by which He also called us to be partakers in His Divine Nature and Kingdom. If we do these things in greater measure, we will be transformed in body and mind, and will “escape the corruption that is in the world through lust”.

May the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, Bless you this day.