One Person, Two Natures

by Matthew Barrett

The incarnation of Christ is a marvelous mystery. How is it that Christ is one person, yet two natures? Truly this is supernatural. I love how John Owen, puritan divine of the highest caliber, describes the person of Christ:

“Each nature operates in him according unto its essential properties. the divine nature knows all things, upholds all things, rules all things, acts by its presence everywhere; the human nature was born, yielded obedience, died, and rose again. But it is the same person, the same Christ, that acts all these things-the one nature being his no less than the other” (WJO, vol. 1, p. 234).

Matthew Barrett (Ph.D., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the founder and executive editor of Credo Magazine. Barrett has contributed book reviews and articles to various academic journals and he also writes at Blogmatics. He is married to Elizabeth and they have two daughters, Cassandra and Georgia. He is a member of Clifton Baptist Church in Louisville, KY.