"And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."

Two wonderful assurances are given in this text. God's faithful obedient children have eternal life as a qualitative factor even while waiting for Jesus to come. Secondly, no man is able to take that "eternal life" quality away from them and separate them from the Father.

Let's look at these statements carefully. How can it be said that we have eternal life before Jesus comes to bestow immortality upon us? In John 5:24, Jesus said, "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

The born-again Christian immediately begins to partake of the divine nature of Jesus. Peter describes the faith process as claiming the promises of salvation that "ye might be partakers of the divine nature." 2 Peter 1:4. As long as this faith relationship continues and God's sheep hear His voice and follow Him, there is a sharing of the very life of Christ. Although no human being can deprive the Christian of that shared eternal life, the Christian can always choose to take himself away from Christ by severing the relationship which provides the divine nature (eternal life). In that case, he removes himself from the Father' s hand and severs himself also from the source of everlasting life.