In 1:3 the pronoun “Him” refers to God who is our Savior and our Lord Jesus Christ (vv. 1-2). He has called us to His glory and virtue by His glory and virtue. His disciples saw His glory and virtue (v. 16; John 1:14) and were attracted by them. Then through this glory and virtue they were called by Him to this very glory and virtue. It is the same with all believers in Christ.
Glory is the expression of God, God expressed in splendor. Literally, the Greek word rendered “virtue” means excellency. Virtue denotes the energy of life to overcome all obstacles and to carry out all excellent attributes. Glory is the divine goal; virtue is the energy and strength of life to reach the goal. This virtue with all things relating to life has been given to us by the divine power, but it needs to be developed on the way to glory.
In 1:4 Peter continues, “Through which He has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises, that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world by lust.” The Greek word translated “through” here is dia. It also means on account of, on the basis of, because of, and here is used in the instrumental sense becoming causal.
The relative pronoun “which” in this verse refers to glory and virtue in verse 3. Through and on the basis of, on account of, because of, the Lord’s glory and virtue, by and to which we have been called, He has given us His precious and exceedingly great promises, such as in Matthew 28:20; John 6:57; 7:38-39; 10:28-29; 14:19-20, 23; 15:5; and 16:13-15. God has called us to His glory and virtue. Because of this glory and virtue, God has given us promises. All these promises are being carried out in His believers by His life-power, as the excellent virtue, unto His glory.
We have emphasized the fact that God has called us to His glory and virtue. But this calling is something that needs to be worked out. Although we have been called into God’s glory and virtue, are we actually in this glory, and are we participating in this virtue? The correct answer is that sometimes we are in the glory and sometimes we participate in this virtue. Therefore, how can God’s calling of us to His glory and virtue be worked out? It is worked out through His promises.
Through the precious and exceedingly great promises, we, the believers in Christ, who is our God and Savior, have become partakers of His divine nature in an organic union with Him. We have entered this union through faith and baptism (John 3:15; Gal. 3:27; Matt. 28:19). The virtue (energy of life) of this divine nature carries us into His glory (godliness becoming the full expression of the Triune God).
Based upon the glory and virtue to which we have been called by God, God gives us promises. Furthermore, through this process, this procedure, God has given us promises. He promises us that He will be responsible to work out this glory and virtue. As we have seen, glory as the expression is the goal, and virtue is the energy of life. Virtue is the excellent attributes of God becoming to us the energy of life. This means that we have the energy and strength to reach glory. By God’s promises we have the energy to express His glory. One of these promises is found in 2 Corinthians 12:9, where the Lord says, “My grace is sufficient for you.” How great and how precious is this promise! Surely this promise is able to work out glory and virtue.
Through these promises we may become partakers of the divine nature. We receive the divine life simply by believing. There was a “click,” and the divine life came into us. The nature is the substance of the life. Although we received the life at the time we believed, the nature must be continually enjoyed by us. This enjoyment requires the grace of God. The more we enjoy the divine nature, the more we have His virtue, and the more we are brought into His glory.
To partake of the divine nature is to enjoy what God is. In order that we may enjoy all that He is, God will do many things for us according to His promises. This will enable us to enjoy His nature, what He is. We have seen that one of His promises is that His grace is sufficient for us. God’s sufficient grace will work within us day by day so that we may enjoy the divine nature.
Toward the end of verse 4 Peter speaks of “having escaped the corruption which is in the world by lust.” In his first Epistle Peter told the believers that Christ had redeemed them from their vain manner of life (1 Pet. 1:18-19), so that they should abstain from fleshly lusts (1 Pet. 2:11) and no longer live in the flesh in the lusts of men (1 Pet. 4:2). Now in his second Epistle he unveils to them the energy, the strength, by which they are enabled to escape the corruption in lust and the result of this escape. The energy is the virtue of the divine life, and the result is the partaking of the divine nature, the enjoying of all the riches of what the Triune God is. In partaking of the divine nature and in the enjoyment of all that God is, all the riches of the divine nature will be fully developed, as described in 1:5-7. Having escaped the corruption of lust in the world, the barriers to the growth of the divine life in us, we are freed to become partakers of the divine nature, enjoying its riches in its development to the fullest extent by the virtue of God unto His glory.
The divine nature refers to the riches of what God is. Whatever God is, is in His nature. Therefore, when we partake of the divine nature, we partake of the divine riches. Having received the divine life at the time of our regeneration, we must go on to enjoy what God is.
The riches of what God is are the content of the living hope mentioned in 1 Peter 1:3. According to His great mercy, God the Father has regenerated us unto a living hope. This living hope is actually a hope of life. Having this hope of life, we expect to enjoy daily the riches of the divine life. Actually, to enjoy the divine life is simply to partake of the divine nature. Therefore, partaking of the divine nature is related to our living hope of enjoying all the riches of the divine life.
When we were regenerated, we were enlivened by God, or we may say that we were “lifed” by Him. The divine life came into the center of our being. From that time onward, we have had a living hope, a hope of life. Our hope is that every part of our being will be enlivened. Regeneration, therefore, has brought in a living hope. Regeneration is unto the enjoyment of the riches of the divine life, and the riches of this life are the divine nature. Hence, to partake of the divine nature is to enjoy the riches of God.
This enjoyment is both for the present and for eternity. For eternity we shall continue to partake of the divine nature. This is illustrated by the tree of life and the river of water of life in Revelation 22:1 and 2. Out from the throne of God and the Lamb, the river of life flows. This signifies God flowing out to be the enjoyment of His redeemed ones. That flowing river will saturate the entire city of New Jerusalem. Furthermore, the tree of life that grows along the river will supply the redeemed ones with God as their life supply. This is a picture of what it means to partake of the divine nature.