And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.
Parallel translations
- WEB and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
- BSB and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
- NKJV And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
- NASB and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
- NLT and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Believers belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. Everything is theirs because they are wholly the Lord's.
Overview
Paul climaxes his argument with a chain of belonging: all things are the believers', they are Christ's, and Christ is God's. This roots Christian privilege in submission, possessing all things precisely by belonging to Christ. The verse exalts Christ's headship over His people and His perfect unity with the Father, the true foundation for unity and humility in the church.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Gal 3:29And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
- John 17:18As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
- 1 Cor 15:23But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
- 1 Cor 11:3But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
- John 17:9–10I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
- 2 Cor 10:7Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ’s, even so are we Christ’s.
- John 17:21That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
- Rom 14:8For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.
- Gal 5:24And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
- 1 Cor 8:6But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
- 1 Cor 6:19–20What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
- Phil 2:8–11And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
- 1 Cor 7:22For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant.
- Matt 17:5While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
- Eph 1:10That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 3:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.