Verse 4.— Whereby are given unto us exceeding great. By his divine power God expressed his will to men, and in that will God made promises to us. The Holy Spirit, through the pen of the apostle Peter, attempts to convey to and bring within the comprehension of our weak minds the moral grandeur, superlative excellence and priceless value of these promises by the words "exceeding great and precious." That by these Meaning the promises. Keeping these promises ever in view and God's infinite love, by whom they are bestowed, gathering knowledge of him as we struggle to know and do his will, we become more like him, more godlike, and are thereby made partakers of the divine nature. Being in Christ Jesus, we are new creatures, and have escaped from the corruption that is in the world. This escape took place when we were translated out of and from the kingdom of Satan. That kingdom and the sin that is in it no longer have dominion over us. We are freed from any allegiance to it; have absolutely escaped from it, and the bondage we there endured. We have, and can have, if we are true to our allegiance to God, no further affection for it.