2 Peter 1:3-4
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them we may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
Peter does not say God has given us most of what we need. He says God has given us everything. Not through human effort. Not through discipline alone. Not through sheer willpower. But through His divine power. When we hear the word desire, we often reduce it to sexual temptation. But Scripture exposes something far deeper and far more dangerous. The world’s desires include an unrelenting hunger for money beyond need, the thirst to dominate and control, the obsession to win at all costs, and even the dark impulse to corrupt or harm others. These desires are not mild weaknesses; they are corrupting powers that enslave the human heart. James 1: 15 talks about desire that gradually brings forth death.
And here is the unflinching truth: Fallen human nature cannot overcome itself. No amount of resolve can defeat what is wired into our nature. Only a higher nature can conquer a lower one. That is why Peter points us not to effort, but to participation, “that we may participate in the divine nature.” God does not merely forgive us and leave us unchanged. He gives us His very great and precious promises so that we may escape corruption and begin to live from a different source altogether, His own life within us.
Some scholars use a powerful picture hidden in the law God gave Israel. When a leper was cleansed, blood was applied to the ear, the thumb, and the toe, symbolising forgiveness and cleansing. But God did not stop there. Oil, a symbol of the Holy Spirit, was applied over the blood. (Leviticus 14:14-16)
The message seems unmistakable: The blood cleanses us, but the Spirit empowers us.
The blood removes guilt, but the Spirit breaks sin’s power. The blood reconciles us to God, but the Spirit transforms us into His likeness. Forgiveness is essential, but transformation is God’s goal. That is why the greatest gift God gives us, after forgiveness, is the Holy Spirit Himself. Through Him, we escape corruption. Through Him, we begin to share in God’s nature. Through Him, we are slowly reshaped from defeated patterns into the likeness of Christ.
Let us Seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit every single day. Only a Higher Nature Can Conquer a Lower One. Only His nature can overcome ours.
Prayer
Lord, Thank You that Your divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness. Thank You for the blood that cleanses and the Spirit that transforms. We confess that our own desires are too strong for us—but not too strong for Your Spirit. Fill us daily. Let Your nature conquer ours. Make us partakers of Your life, Your holiness, and Your power. Teach us to walk in freedom, victory, and purity through the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Quote: Only the divine nature can overcome the fallen nature.