The divine nature
Accordingly, His divine power has given us all things toward life and godliness, through the knowledge of the One having called us by His own glory and excellence, through which He has given to us the precious and magnificent promises, so that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the decay in the world in desire.
Now also for this very reason, having brought in all earnestness, supplement into your faith excellence, and into excellence knowledge, and into knowledge self-control, and into self-control endurance, and into endurance godliness, and into godliness brotherly affection, and into brotherly affection love. For these things being in you and abounding, make you neither idle nor unfruitful as to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The divine nature is the very nature that supersedes our human nature. It is that which Christ gave up when He became a little lower than the angels. (Philippians 2:7; Hebrews 2:7) It embodies all of the things mentioned here by Peter and more: faith, excellence (virtue), knowledge, self-control (a sound mind), endurance, godliness, brotherly affection and love. When you combine all these into one, you become partakers to what is known as the divine nature. Peter is not suggesting that you necessarily lack these qualities, for how can he claim that we have received all things pertaining to life and godliness through God’s divine power if we lacked any of these qualities? (So, if anyone lack, the fault is not on the side of God.) Rather, he is saying that you must combine them all to become partakers of the divine nature. Having done so, you would have escaped the decay found in the world.
Peter is not suggesting that this can be achieved through our own power. Even he recognizes that only perfection can yield perfection, and it can never be said that a sinner can yield perfection. As such, he doesn’t start off the passage affirming our power. Rather, he starts off the passage affirming God’s divine power, when he writes, “His divine power has given us all things toward life and godliness.” And when he writes, “through the knowledge of the One having called us,” it is clear that this concerns those who believe in the Gospel. Having said these things, it is clear that Peter is alluding to the fact that we must do our part as well. We must workout our own salvation.
Notice the structure Peter offers when it comes to what we ought to do with all earnestness. He says pour one into the other, which all the more suggests that we do not lack these things. If anything, it suggests that we are not working them all together that we might attain to the divine nature. For this reason, it is not surprising to observe Peter speak harshly about those who would not with all earnestness commit to this level of supplementation.
For in whomever these things are not present, he is blind, being short sighted, having received forgetfulness of the purification from his former sins.
Immediately after momentarily speaking harshly towards those who persist in blindness, he repeats once more how we are—with all earnestness—to commit to this method of supplementation. And in so repeating himself he establishes emphasis, showing all the more that we ought to work out our own salvation.
Therefore, brothers, be diligent, rather, to make your calling and election sure. For practicing these things, never at any time shall you stumble. For in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly supplied to you.
When he says, “to make your calling and election sure,” he is not saying that we are neither called nor elected. For, then, it would be impossible to make what we don’t have a thing of certainty. Just like when we say, “work out our own salvation,” we are not declaring that we lack salvation or that we haven’t been saved. Rather, if we don’t put these things to use, then we run the risk of losing it all. Surely, this is more than enough reason to be not only mindful of all of these things, but to also persist in them. And if anyone shows himself lacking, then he shall be numbered among the blind.
So, let us touch on each and every one of these things as much as we can, as the day draws near. Once you have established yourself in these things and persist in these things, you will find yourself never failing, never sinning, and observing the entrance to the eternal kingdom open its doors for you, for that is the promise.