Putting on a Divine Nature

2 Peter 1:3-4 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ⁴Through 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.

There has been much error taught to Christians regarding sin and our need to overcome it and be transformed into the likeness of Jesus.  Jesus was divine, He was perfect, He never sinned.  Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing or what the Father told Him to do.  He in no way ever trusted in His flesh.  The flesh is hostile to God and cannot please God.  Cursed is the man who trusts in his flesh the Scriptures tell us.  As Peter said in the above verse,  we escape the corruption of the world caused by evil (fleshly) desires only by putting on a divine nature.  This means so much more than just saying prayer or going to a church.

1 John 3:2-3 But we know that when he appears,we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

Jesus had a divine nature the Father was in Him and He in the Father.  ALL of us (everyone in the above verse) must put on a divine nature to have eternal life.  There is no other way.  This comes about via a process of sanctification or Christian maturity as we give God our whole heart and desire to please Him fully.  Until we do this and suffer, we will NOT be sanctified and will at best remain a babe in Christ and most likely will fall away back into practicing sin.  I am going to resist temptation to go off on a tangent about Christian maturity here but promise to come back to that topic in an upcoming posts.  Consider very carefully this following passage from the Apostle Paul.  This excerpt precedes the famously twisted passage about grace in Ephesians 2:8-9 (that is not shown).  Notice the clear reference to what we used  to do, who we used to be  or what we formerly did, with bolding for emphasis.

Ephesians 2:1-3 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,  ²in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.  ³Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

Do see the truth here?  We are indeed saved by grace but grace doesn’t mean we can continue living in sin and walking the way the world walks.  We must die to self and put on the divine nature of Christ.  These kinds of passages are everywhere in the Scriptures, and if you get your heart right with God, you will suddenly see them.  They are rarely referenced in the apostate churches of today and the promotion of false security via a false gospel has put many Christians asleep.  They are the foolish virgins of Jesus’s parable in Matthew 25.

Over the past year, God has pulled me out of the lies that had formerly deceived me and ensnared me in perpetual sin.  I only lived to indulge my flesh and my pleasures, all the while calling myself a Christian.  Paul says in the above verse we will not be still doing these things, and IF we are it is because we are following after the spirits of Satan.  I am starting to realize just how narrow the road and the gate to life really is and that Jesus meant it when He said “few there be who will find it”.  Praise God for the mercy, grace and revelation He has brought about in me and desires to bring about to everyone.

To see God and enter His kingdom, we must be transformed, we must indeed be Born Again to see the kingdom of God. If we claim to be born again and continue to practice sin and desire the lusts of the flesh, we are a liar.

John 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, NO ONE can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again

1 John 2:4-6 The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: ⁶Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

How did Jesus walk?  He did not sin and that is how we must walk if we claim to belong to Christ.   So very many professing Christians have not been changed, they walk, talk and act just like the world does.  Yet they believe their practice of a religion saves them.   Many are walking in a flesh nature and are nowhere near or even on the road to life that leads to a divine nature.  They are looking back like Lot’s wife and holding on to their lusts.  God does not YET have their whole heart.  They are on the broad road that leads to destruction but there is still time to awaken them to the truth.

It is the Spirit of God (Truth), working in us that sanctifies us, guiding us into all truth and transforming us into the same divine nature Christ had on earth.  Believing in the truth (Jesus is Truth) is a requirement for the Holy Spirit to work the miracle in each of us.  Consider Paul’s explanation of this process to the early church below.

2 Thess 2:12-13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, ¹⁴ to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We Are All Born Sinners

Mark 10:18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

At least the apostate church gets this part right.  One dead ringer for false teaching is any teaching that says we do not have to be transformed out of our sin nature into the nature of Christ.  The error says you can have two natures and can continue to practice sin as long as you believe Jesus is God and go to church on Sunday.  This error is broadcast from many denominational pulpits today as the Scriptures said would happen in the end.  This is a perversion of God’s word and turns the grace of God into a license to sin.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

People just don’t want to hear they need to give up their lives.  They don’t like being told they need to submit themselves.  They don’t want to suffer or pay a cost to follow Jesus.  They love their easy believism and doctrines of Once Saved Always Saved.  Woe unto them who teach such error.

Jesus came to save sinners by calling them to repentance. This means to turn away from the sin nature we are born with and all its evil desires that spring forth lust and idols in our heart.  When we turn away from this nature and turn towards God with our whole heart,  the grace of God comes upon us and enables us to put to death the flesh.  We don’t do this transforming — it is indeed by the power of God, but we must seek Him with all our heart for God to do His work.  I wrote a post on Why Jesus Came a few months back that was helpful to me that can be read by clicking here.

Just for the record, Paul made it clear nobody is born divine!

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to ALL men, because all sinned

Romans 3:10-12 There is none righteous, no, not one;   ¹¹ There is none who understands;  There is none who seeks after God. ¹² They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.

We do indeed come into this world with a SIN nature.  But this SIN nature must be put to death, or we will die.  We are told to be like little children in many passages, but this is not telling us what our nature is, this is telling us that we are to have a trust and total dependency on God for our survival just like little children are dependent upon their parents or guardians.  If little children die, they go to heaven because they are not at an age of accountability and until we know God’s law in our hearts, we cannot sin.  Before knowledge of the law came, there was no sin as Paul explains in Romans and Galatians.

The soul that sins shall die we are told in Ezekiel 18:20.  To walk with Christ and reap eternal life, we must put on a DIVINE nature and then and only then, enter into His rest.  We cannot have it both ways, Jesus made that very clear.

Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Romans 6:16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

Who is your Master?  Jesus already said we cannot serve two, there is only one.  In case there was any doubt He also spoke these words.

Luke 6:46 But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?

The consequences of not putting on a divine nature is a loss of eternal life.  If we continue to walk in the flesh and do not conform ourselves to the image of God’s son, we will perish.  The fear of God is indeed the beginning of knowledge and as I have recently blogged about,  this watered down, half gospel of love invented by Satan and promoted by false teachers is killing many professing Christians.  They are in bondage to their flesh, they are not free as Jesus said we would be IF He sets us free.  We are set free when repentance comes and the divine nature follows as we are sanctified by God.

Romans 8:12-14 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Until we put to death our flesh we cannot be led by the Spirit of God.  We can only serve ONE master.  Our flesh is against everything of God.  We cannot please God (Obey Him) if our flesh is not crucified.  Those following their flesh nature, have not put it to death, are not born again are the sons of disobedience.  The Apostle John called those living this way children of the devil.  Call it what you want, but those that are not putting on a divine nature in thoughts and deeds are not saved.

Abiding in Vine

If we truly love God with our whole heart, He cleans us up by the washing of His Word.  He writes His laws on our minds and in our hearts via the Holy Spirit and that is how we put on a divine nature and stay that way once we are cleansed of our past sins.  If we leave Him, and follow after idols in our hearts, He is no longer our Lord and we are not believing on the Lord anymore.

John 15:3-4 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

A tree only has one primary root.   All things come back to the one root which provides the nourishment for the whole tree, branches, vines and leaves.  The Scriptures use trees as a metaphor for man and we are told we will be known by our fruit.  Trees bear fruit, either good or bad.  If we love anything more than Jesus, including our lives, our family, money, pride, comfort, security, Church, traditions of men, sports, fitness, ANYTHING — we are not abiding in the true vine of life.  We may be religious but we deceive ourselves.  Any idols in our hearts and we are not abiding in the vine and will not bear good fruit.  Jesus called this vain worship via lips only and not with a true heart. Jesus confirmed the ONE NATURE we must have when He said this:

Matthew 7:16-18 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.

Fruit is not made overnight, so I am not preaching a perfect sinless perfection as we can stumble in a moment of weakness into a sin.  But if we are truly of God, we will immediately repent and the fruit of love will permeate are every action, thought or deed.

Pure & Spotless Bride

Being in Christ is oft spoken of as being married to Christ.  Getting to heaven is getting to the wedding feast.  The true body of believers are the church and is known as the Bride.  Jesus is the Bridegroom.  The word of God tells us throughout Scripture that the Bridegroom comes for a pure bride, not one living in lawlessness, practicing sin or with idols in their hearts.  Jesus did not give us an impossible mission.  Walking in holiness is not mission impossible.

John 14:15 If you love me, you WILL obey what I command

Putting on a divine nature is an absolute requirement to see the Lord.  True repentance is turning away from your innate flesh nature, putting to death the deeds of the flesh and walking in holiness with the Lord.  Repentance is getting rid of SELF (selfishness) and walking in true love, not a fake love designed to win and influence friends or associates.

Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord

The imputed righteousness of Christ does indeed cleanse us from our past sins as Paul explains in Romans 3 but sadly this has been perverted by false teachers.  The blind are leading the blind into the pit of hell.  I have a link at the top of this page entitled Righteousness that may awaken you to greater truth in the Scriptures.

The pure and spotless bride, the ones wearing the white robes and garments of salvation spoke of throughout the Bible are not living in the flesh.  They all have a divine nature.  Once your eyes are opened to this revelation, you will read the Epistles of Paul, Peter and John with new understanding that you never saw before.

Ephesians 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, ²⁶ that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷ that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

It is the implanted word of God in our hearts,  a pure heart that washes us from our evil desires (the flesh) and enables us to overcome.  Now that is what Grace really is in its simplest terms.

1 Peter 1:13-16 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ¹⁴ as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the FORMER lusts, as in your ignorance; ¹⁵ but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in ALL your conduct, ¹⁶ because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

To put on the divine nature and be conformed to the image of Christ, the REAL US must die.  Yes that is right.  All your selfish ambition must be surrendered fully to God.  We must turn from doing our will and seek to do His will.  We cannot be Lord of our lives and in control, He must be Lord and guiding our steps and directing our paths.  We must be willing to lose our life to gain eternal life.  The gospel is indeed simple if properly divided.  We have adopted doctrines of demons and invented many forms of religion (denominations, church organizations etc) but have lost the truth along the way.

We must wake up the sleeping virgins and get oil in our lamps by returning to the true gospel message that was once handed down to the Saints.  The modern-day message preached by religious institutions and spiritually minded people is for the most part in error and has led to the great falling away of today.  That is a watchman’s duty to warn of pending calamity and that is what I am trying to accomplish here on this blog.  God has certainly lead me out of my slumber and awakened me to His truth.  My hope is you all will so blessed by our Lord.

Do not be deceived my brothers and sisters.  Just as the serpent deceived Eve in the garden, the prince of the power of the air (the devil)  is at work today leading people into deception and keeping their hearts from really knowing God and loving Him with all their heart.  I pray this message has been a blessing to you.

Ephesians 5:3-6 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children ²and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. ⁴Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. ⁵For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God ⁶Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.

May God Bless You Richly!