Because godly living is such a struggle, God has also encouraged us by giving us precious promises—promises of what he will do in the future, promises of Christ’s return and life in a new heaven and new earth, promises of help to fight against sin, promises of salvation for those who trust in Christ. There are numerous promises from God in his Word that help us to fix our eyes on him, so that we will persevere in our struggles against the flesh.
One of the promises that are particularly relevant in our pursuit of godly living is the promise that we will participate in the divine nature. This is not a promise of divinization into the Trinity, as we find in some churches and circles. Such an idea is foreign to Scripture and comes from the pagan world where the end goal of life is to become divine, to have a name that lasts forever, and be like God. The Lord alone is God and we cannot and never will be like him. His transcendent glory cannot be attained by humanity.
Rather than becoming divine, to share the divine nature is to partner in the attributes of Christ. God remains God, we remain human, but Christ shares his moral attributes with us and works them in us by his Spirit so that we will produce much fruit in this life (Galatians 5:22–26) and enjoy the benefits that he has won for us in the life to come. A future in God’s presence in a glorious new creation where there is no death, sin, or evil.
Another promise that Christ has made is that we will escape the corruption in the world. There will come a day when our fight against sin is over, when we receive new resurrection bodies and are raised incorruptible.
In light of these two promises we are encouraged to pursue life and godliness. Encouraged because Christ is working in us and he will help us to fight against sin. Encouraged because there is promise of a glorious future free from sin.
As we struggle with sin in this life we must remember what Christ has done for us in the past, what he is doing in us now by the Spirit, and what he will do in the future when he returns in glory. This will help us not to become despondent when we fail. We do not expect perfect success in our fight against sin today; we know that glorification will happen only in the future. Therefore as we struggle and stumble, we remember that God’s power—his constant forgiveness of sins, his patient mercy, his loving compassion—is manifest in our weakness. He will not throw us away because we struggle and fall. In this we are in the same place as Peter (the writer of this letter). Even though he was an apostle, he was not perfect. He denied Jesus at the cross, he dragged his feet when it came to preaching to the Gentiles, he showed favouritism to those from Jewish background. But God did not let him go. Likewise God will not let you go. If you share in Peter’s faith, faith in Jesus Christ, you have been made right with God and Christ will forgive and restore you when your desires sometimes fail in the face of temptation. He will bring you to eternal glory even as you struggle now.
These promises of course are only for those who belong to Christ, those who seek to walk in godliness. If someone has no desire to obey Christ and be transformed by him, no desire to fight sin and pursue what is right, then they must repent and believe. There is no salvation for those who obstinately continue in sin and unbelief.
4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.