Here are some representative devotional/sanctification interpreters of 2 Peter 1:4 and how they handle “partakers of the divine nature” in practice. All read it as real participation in God’s life expressed in holiness, not ontological deification.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
### 1. Alexander Maclaren
– Emphasis: New life and love implanted in the believer.
– Exegesis: “Partakers of the Divine nature” does not mean absorption into God but that “into every human spirit there may pass a seed of Divine life” that unfolds in holiness and love; God must “ever be passing, moment by moment, into our hearts” by his promises.[2][8]
– Practice: Ongoing reception of God’s life through promises and obedience, nourishing the “Divine life” by fleeing corruption.[2]
### 2. Walking With Giants (Evangelical devotional)
– Emphasis: Participation, not essence; likeness, not becoming God.
– Exegesis: We do not partake of God’s **essence** but “become ‘like God’” through union and communion; the verse supports a theosis‑like idea of sharing in God’s life and immortality (citing Stamoolis and Bauckham) while carefully guarding Creator–creature distinction.[4]
– Practice: Through knowledge, promises, and faith, believers grow in holiness and “freedom from all decay and death,” anticipating direct participation in God’s life and holiness.[4]
### 3. Ligonier / Reformed devotional
– Emphasis: Moral and relational conformity.
– Exegesis: “Partakers of the divine nature” means sharing in God’s moral qualities (holiness, love, knowledge) by union with Christ, not becoming divine beings.[6]
– Practice: The promises empower believers to pursue holiness and resist corruption; participation in the divine nature is visible in sanctified character.[6]
### 4. Ellen G. White (Adventist devotional tradition)
– Emphasis: Promises as means of transformation.
– Exegesis: Every promise of God is “the encouragement that we may be partakers of the divine nature,” stressing inner renewal and victory over sin rather than metaphysical deification.[9][1]
– Practice: By claiming the promises, believers “escape the corruption that is in the world through lust” and reflect Christ’s character.[1][9]
### 5. Spurgeon‑based devotional (GospelBells / Pilgrim’s Light)
– Emphasis: Union with Christ producing holiness.
– Exegesis: Being “partakers of the divine nature” is explained as sharing in Christ’s life by union with him, leading to a new principle of holiness within the believer.[3]
– Practice: Encourages assurance and holiness: if we share Christ’s life, we must manifest his character and separate from the world’s corruption.[3]
### 6. John Piper (Desiring God, “Future Grace”)
– Emphasis: Future grace breaking the power of lust.
– Exegesis: Reads 2 Peter 1:3–4 as God’s “divine power” and “precious and very great promises” given so that we escape “corruption … because of sinful desire” and become partakers of God—understood as enjoying God himself as superior pleasure.[5]
– Practice: Sanctification as fighting lust with superior promises; participation in the divine nature is existentially experienced as being satisfied in God rather than in sinful desires.[5]
### 7. “The Fire of Desire” (The Girded Mind)
– Emphasis: War on lust as evidence of participation.
– Exegesis: Connects “partakers of the divine nature” with “having escaped the corruption … through lust,” stressing that those who belong to Christ have “crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”[7]
– Practice: Calls believers to crucify lustful desires as the concrete way they demonstrate sharing in God’s holy nature.[7]
### 8. Miscellaneous evangelical devotionals (BFF “Precious and Magnificent Promises,” etc.)
– Emphasis: Promises as “power for godliness.”
– Exegesis: God’s “precious and magnificent promises” are the channel by which believers come to share in God’s nature—understood as godly character and spiritual vitality.[10][11]
– Practice: Encourages daily appropriation of promises and intentional growth in virtue (2 Peter 1:5–7) as the lived form of partaking the divine nature.[11][10]
If you’d like, I can condense this into a one‑page chart (columns: interpreter, key phrase on “divine nature,” view of “corruption,” practical sanctification emphasis) for use in a classroom handout.
Sources
[1] Partakers of the Divine Nature, February 4 – Ellen G. White® Estate https://whiteestate.org/
[2] Partakers of the Divine Nature (2 Peter 1:4) by Alexander Maclaren https://www.blueletterbible.
[3] “Partakers of the divine nature.” – 2 Peter 1:4 (NKJV) https://gospelbellsradio.com/
[4] 2 Peter 1:4 – ‘Partakers of the divine nature’ – Walking With Giants https://www.walkingwithgiants.
[5] Future Grace: Its Purifying Power | Desiring God https://www.desiringgod.org/
[6] His Divine Power | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at … https://learn.ligonier.org/
[7] The Fire of Desire – The Girded Mind https://thegirdedmind.org/
[8] 2 Peter 1 – MacLaren’s Expositions of Holy Scripture – StudyLight.org https://www.studylight.org/
[9] PARTAKERS THROUGH GOD’S PROMISES … – Facebook https://www.facebook.com/
[10] 2 Peter 1:4 Precious and Magnificent Promises https://bffbible.org/new-
[11] 2 Peter 1:3-4 Commentary https://www.preceptaustin.org/
[12] MORNING DEW Partakers Of Divine Nature. – Facebook https://www.facebook.com/
[13] 2 Peter 1:4 – Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary – StudyLight.org https://www.studylight.org/
[14] Friday 30th September, Today’s Article: Your Impregnable Nature https://christembassy.org/
[15] “Partakers of the Divine Nature: A Meditation on 2 Peter 1” – Be … https://rejoiceandpraise.ca/
