“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
By which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises — the promises function as both covenant expressions and transformative power sources. So that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature (theias koinōnoi physeōs) — perhaps the New Testament's boldest statement of theosis or deification, not pantheistic absorption but genuine participation in God's character. Having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire — the mechanism of spiritual transformation involves both positive participation and negative separation from worldly decay.
Church Fathers on 2 Peter 1:4
Nor, because the Son that was in the form of God took upon Him the form of a servant was He deprived of His Godhead. On the contrary, He is thus become the Deliverer of all flesh and of all creation. And if God sent His Son brought forth from a woman, the fact causes us no shame but contrariwise glory and great grace. For He has become Man, that He might deify us in Himself, and He has been born of a woman, and begotten of a Virgin, in order to transfer to Himself our erring…
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