2 Peter 1:4

"Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires." 2 Peter 1:4

It is important that we define what "these" are referring to in this passage. Its a little vague, but we can use deductive reasoning to hone in on it. What we know is that it refers to something that Peter has already said, and it is through "these" that God has given us His very great and precious promises. Also, we can conclude that it is referring to something plural. Peter has already used the phrase "through the knowledge of God" and "through the knowledge of Him". How is it that we know God? Its through His Word, which are revelations from God about Himself. It makes sense that Peter is referring to these revelations which we would refer to as the Scriptures. Grace and peace come to us through what we know about God, and its through these revelations that we have been given everything we need for life and godliness. Further, it is through these revelations that we have been given His very great and precious promises. God has given us clear and specific promises through His revelations of Himself. It is through these promises that we may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world. It is not a surprise to us that we live in a corrupt world, but what we need to understand is that it is corrupt because of our evil desires. Our sinful nature thrives on evil desires, the desire for pleasure, for greed, for power, for success, and for self-gratification. Most evil desires can be but into one of two categories: self-gratification or self-glorification. Its because of these two desires that our world is so corrupt, and these are natural for us. Praise God for giving us His Word and His Spirit who helps to understand and live out His Word. Through the promises He has given, one of which is the promised Holy Spirit, we don't have to live a life of self-gratification and self-glorification. We can truly live to glorify God and find our satisfaction solely in Him. Again the theme is to get to know God through His Word. I want to challenge you to do something. Every time you open the scriptures and you see a promise that God has given. Record it or underline it and then reflect on how that promise affects you. Thank God for His promises!

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