LEARNING DAILY

 

2 Peter 1:4, 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.

 

Several days ago, 1 Peter 1:3 was written about. The verse states that when a person becomes a Christian through the salvation He offers, he/she is “given everything that pertains to life and godliness”. There is no additional human wisdom or anything else that is needed to complete one’s perfect salvation. The person must walk on the narrow way that leads to eternal life in God’s kingdom.

 

As Believers, we are not missing anything to walk the life that God wants us to live. God called us and equips us to follow the example He set for us as He walked this earth. Because we accepted His call to believe in Him by giving our hearts to Him, He gave something worth great value – promises. My wife and I often laugh at television shows or movies where the police are quick to promise to solve the mystery or find the one “who did it”. Of course, it is television and the one making the promise always is able to keep their promise in all of about 40 minutes. We humans are pretty quick to make promises because we want to have the person being promised believe we are going to fulfill it; it is an attempt to make the person feel better because a “promise” was made. Whenever a promise is considered reliable, no one receives anything until the promise is completely fulfilled. For example, consider the coming elections. Every candidate makes promises. How many of those promises are quickly forgotten when the individual is voted into office? Just a thought.

 

Humans make promises and many are never kept. But the promises in 1 Peter 1:4 are not human promises. God’s promises are always kept – He cannot lie. When He makes a promise, it is a certainty it is going to be kept. So, what has God promised us? He has promised whoever comes to Him and walks on His narrow way will spend eternity with Him in His kingdom. He has promised each person who is saved by Him that He will change them and they will receive in His nature in order to conform to Him and His righteousness. He has promised each of us will have purpose and meaning in Him forever. He has promised that when we walk in faithfulness, He will keep us from being polluted by the evil and corruption found in the world. Look at the verse again and see that through the promises God gives His people. By walking with Him, His promises are so great that he has given us the right to possess His “divine nature”. That means we share in His nature and are able to live the life He demands we live as His faithful followers right now. Living in the kingdom of God begins when we ask Him to be our Savior and Lord, to change us.

 

In the days ahead, let’s examine some important promises from God’s Word.