Plymouth Brethren (via Darby and later writers) distinguish carefully between *eternal life* (the life we receive in regeneration) and *divine nature* (the character of that life), while insisting the two are inseparable in experience.[1][2][3][4]
## Eternal life
– Eternal life is the **life of the Son** communicated to believers: “Christ is my life… He is eternal life, and ‘God has given to us eternal life, and that life is in His Son.’”[3][1]
– It is real, new life given by regeneration, not just a moral change: “It is not a mere change produced, though there be such change, but **the communication of life**, and because He lives we shall live also.”[1][3]
## Divine nature
– “Nature is used more as characteristic of a being… and so even of God, as we say, ‘It is His nature,’ meaning inbred character.”[1]
– In 2 Peter 1:4, “**nature is more character thus used than life; but it involves the other, and the two cannot be separated**.”[1]
– So “divine nature” = the moral character of that life (holiness, love, light) as it is expressed in the believer.[1]
## How they relate
– Eternal life = **the new life itself**, the “divine life” communicated in the new birth (Christ as our life).[2][3][1]
– Divine nature = **the inherent character of that life**—what we “have in common with God” morally: “κοινωνοί, have in common with God what morally belongs to His nature, as holiness, love, etc.; we are light in the Lord.”[1]
– Distinct conceptually but united in reality: you cannot have eternal life without thereby partaking of the divine nature, because having the life of the Son entails sharing the moral character of that life.[4][3][1]
Sources
[1] Two Greek Words Translated “Partakers;” Life and Eternal Life; Real … https://bibletruthpublishers.
[2] Life and Eternal Life – STEM Publishing https://www.stempublishing.
[3] Life and Eternal Life; Real Communication of Life – John Nelson … https://bibletruthpublishers.
[4] Does the Believer Have the Divine Nature? – Contending for the Faith https://contendingforthefaith.
[5] Derivatives From Perfect Passive Greek – John Nelson Darby … https://bibletruthpublishers.
[6] Affliction’s Lessons; Bereavement; God’s Ways in Discipline … https://s401405884.initial-
[7] John Nelson Darby – Letters 2 Articles (#15262) – Bible Truth Library https://bibletruthpublishers.
[8] Work in the United States – John Nelson Darby (#63695) https://bibletruthpublishers.
[9] 2 Peter 1:4 – Contending for the Faith https://contendingforthefaith.
[10] 2 Peter 1 (KJV) – Bible Truth Publishers https://bibletruthpublishers.
[11] All Posts Tagged “2 Peter 1:4” – – Contending for the Faith https://contendingforthefaith.
[12] John 3 (KJV) – Bible Truth Library https://bibletruthpublishers.
[13] The Christian And His Crowns – Hugo Bouter – Biblecentre https://biblecentre.org/
[14] 1ª Corintios 11 (Spanish RV 1909) – Bible Truth Library https://bibletruthpublishers.
[15] Doxology – Athanasian Reformed https://growrag.wordpress.com/
