Chapter 227—Partakers of Christ’s Nature
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.
2 Peter 1:4
.
What beauty of character shone forth in the daily life of Christ! He
is to be our pattern. There is a great work to be done in fashioning the
character after the divine similitude. The grace of Christ must mold the
entire being, and its triumph will not be complete until the heavenly universe
shall witness habitual tenderness of feeling, Christlike love, and holy deeds
in the deportment of the children of God.
Each person must obtain an experience for himself. No one can depend
for salvation on the experience or practice of any other man. We must each
become acquainted with Christ in order properly to represent Him to the
world. “His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life
and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory
and virtue” (
2 Peter 1:3
). None of us need excuse our hasty temper, our
misshapen characters, our selfishness, envy, jealousy, or any impurity of soul,
body, or spirit....
We must learn of Christ. We must know what He is to those He has
ransomed. We must realize that through belief in Him it is our privilege to
be partakers of the divine nature, and so escape the corruption that is in the
world through lust. Then we are cleansed from all sin, all defects of character.
We need not retain one sinful propensity....
As we partake of the divine nature, hereditary and cultivated tendencies
to wrong are cut away from the character, and we are made a living power
for good. Ever learning of the divine Teacher, daily partaking of His nature,
we cooperate with God in overcoming Satan’s temptations. God works, and
man works, that man may be one with Christ as Christ is one with God. Then
we sit together with Christ in heavenly places. The mind rests with peace
and assurance in Jesus.... In Him there is inexhaustible fullness....
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