"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one shall snatch them out of my hand," John 10:28, NIV*.
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
The idea of eternal life is the hope of all mankind. Eternal life is more than eternal existence. A living thing is moving, growing, interacting, experiencing, and in the case of eternal life, it is aware. Eternal existence may imply eternal darkness or eternal sleep or something worse.
Eternal life must be a life of thrilling fulfillment and abundance that is completely gratifying. In this world, we can only conceive of it in vague generalities.
JESUS SAID
Jesus said I give them eternal life. Eternal life is not earned or merited by good deeds but is clearly a gift, and the surprise is that it comes from Jesus, not our efforts. A gift must be received; we must take the gift, or else it is just an offer.
Only God can give eternal life since God is the Eternal One and the Author of life, the logic of this statement of Jesus is that he is claiming to do something only God can do- therefore, he is making another claim to be God.
NEVER
It is not only eternal life, but those who have it will never perish; this double statement is very reinforcing. There is no doubt that Jesus is talking about life unending without the fear of annihilation or death. The possibility of death is removed for those who have eternal life.
NO ONE
When Jesus says, "No one shall snatch them..." he claims superiority over all powers, human and demonic. He says no one- no leader of any religion, devil, or even our own actions can remove us from salvation.
SNATCH
Some translations say snatch; others say pluck, take or seize. The idea is the same; neither speed, power, subterfuge, nor barter can overpower the grasp Jesus has on us.
THE HAND
Hands hold, and it is Jesus' hand that holds us, not us ourselves. We have eternal life secured by Jesus, not by us; he holds us; we don't hold him. He says, "My hand..." we are not held by the hand of a religion, a church, or a creed but by the hand of a person Jesus the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
There is no doubt that eternal life in Jesus is eternal!
To learn more about how to have eternal life in Jesus, follow this link. Salvation.
To read this verse in other translations, use this link: John 10:28.
