Scripture: “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: 3-4a)

Meditation: As those trusting Christ as our mediator before a just and holy God, we often reduce the gospel down to being saved from our sins, alone. We can neglect to see, and are often blind to, the reality that in the gospel God has invited us into His own life. The gospel, the good news, is that God’s grace, God’s gift, is Himself! The gospel is a restoration of relationship, where, as Peter explains to us, God’s power grants “to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through knowledge of Him.” Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, adds a profound expression of this knowledge of God—this knowledge of God reveals “His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature…”! To be partakers, Peter says you and I are participants in a relationship, in union with God through Christ, where His divine power is granted to us for the purpose of godliness—the living out of our now redeemed lives. This is where the disciplines of our faith, our discipleship—prayer, Bible reading and study, gathering with the church, giving, fasting—to name a few, become the means of grace for godliness. They are not “works” toward righteousness, but means wherein God shares Himself with us that we become more like Christ—we become partakers in the divine nature and in His presence we are transformed. Do I view prayer and Bible study as the means by which, in union with God, I am being formed into Christ’s likeness? Do I see, in the gathering of the church, God present in our worship and in the proclamation of His Word, using it to transform His church for Christ’s mission and His glory? While we actively and humbly present ourselves to God in these means of grace, it is by His power, not our works that we are “granted all things that pertain to life and godliness.”

Prayer: Father, your word, written for our edification, is a powerful revelation to us of who You are and your intentions for our lives. As those who have been rescued from the darkness of our sin, we still see through a “mirror dimly” (1 Cor. 13:12); we struggle to see and hold on to the transformative truth that we are in union with You through Christ. Help us Father to not see and use the disciplines of our faith as a measure of manmade godliness; but as means to partake in your nature, where in your presence we are transformed for your mission and your glory. Amen!