2 Peter 2:3-7

Peter taught that through God's -

"...divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness..." (New Testament 2 Peter 1:3)

that we -

"...might be partakers of the divine nature..." (New Testament 2 Peter 1:4)

Partake is the word that seemed to impress me. Partake by definition means -

• to take part in
• to possess or share a certain nature or attribute

Partake suggests the burden is not the individual to take part or to possess. Peter taught what we must do to partake. We must give -

"...all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity." (New Testament 2 Peter 1:5 - 7)

"...if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (New Testament 2 Peter 1:8)

Knowledge only comes by revelation which is the "divine power" through which God gives us all things pertaining to life and godliness. Brigham Young explains -

“When through the Gospel, the Spirit in man has so subdued the flesh that he can live without wilful transgression, the Spirit of God unites with his spirit, they become congenial companions, and the mind and will of the Creator is thus transmitted to the creature.” (JD, 9:288.)

The Spirit of God is the divine power or grace. The divine nature is as we come to understand the mind and will of the Lord. President David O. McKay also taught -

“[Peter] wrote on one occasion: ‘. . . that we might be partakers of the divine nature.’ . . . He realized what it means to be in touch with the spiritual, to rise above the temporal, the sensual, and partake of the divine Spirit of God. . . that is the purpose of making us more capable of responding to the Spirit and subduing the sensual. . . .That is why we like to have every young man and every young woman utilize his or her time intelligently, usefully, to bring the soul in harmony with the spirit, that we all might be partakers of God’s Spirit, partakers of his divine nature. . . . (CR, Oct. 1961, p. 90.)