Granted by God

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 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.”

(2 Peter 1:3-4 ESV)

Our tendency is to believe that we have it all together. We believe that we are good people. We believe that we are deserving of every blessing. We believe that we’ve gained for ourselves everything that we need for life. And we think that, by our goodness and effort, we can gain all things that pertain to godliness.

Scripture, however, tells us the exact opposite. It tells us that we are not good. It tells us that we deserve nothing other than death and hell. It tells us that life has been granted to us by God. And it tells us that godliness is not something we can attain on our own.

This is also something that we see very clearly if we take an honest look at ourselves. When we do so, we see our constant failure. We see our inability to do what is right. We see the darkness inside of us.

On the surface, this is discouraging. It’s discouraging because we see the futility of our situation. However, Scripture also gives to us hope. It gives to us hope such as that seen in the above passage.

Even though we cannot attain these things for ourselves, Peter tells us that God has provided them for us. God’s divine power has given to us all that we need for both life and godliness. He’s enabled our life in this world and in eternity. And, by his power, we are transformed into his image.

This is possible through the knowledge of God, who called us. It’s possible by knowing Jesus, through faith. In this way, he’s granted to us his promises so that, through them, we can become partakers in the divine nature.

This doesn’t mean that we’ll be gods ourselves. Through faith in Christ, God dwells within us. And, as we trust in his promises, we are saved from sin and its consequences.

This passage, then, reminds us to trust in Christ and in him alone. We must not look to ourselves, we must not look to our goodness or effort, for any blessing we need or desire. We must look to him knowing that we receive these things only by his power.