The Word Is Called Savior, and the Man the Son of God

And so it is clear that, through the mystery of the Word of God joined to man, the Word, which was sent to save men, can be called Savior; and the Savior, who was born in the flesh, can be called the Son of God through his union with the Word. So, since God is joined to man, either title may be used without distinction, and whatever is God and man can be called altogether God. [a]

The same apostle, then, does well to add the words: “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and the love of God is perfected in him.” The one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God, he tells us, is a believer, and he declares that such a person is filled with divine love. But he testifies that the Word of God is the Son of God, and so means us to understand fully that the Word of God, who is his only Son, is one and the same Person as Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

But do you want to be told more fully that, though Christ according to the flesh was truly born as man of man, there is still no separation between Christ and the Word, because of the oneness, beyond words, of the mystery by which man was joined to God? Hear the gospel of the Lord; or rather, hear the Lord himself speaking of himself: “This,” he says, “is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” You heard above that the Word of God was sent to heal mankind; here you are told that the one who was sent is Jesus Christ. Separate these, if you can! Yet you see that the unity of Christ and the Word is so great that Christ was not merely united with the Word, but, by virtue of the actual unity of Person, Christ may even be said to be the Word.