and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
Parallel translations
- WEB and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
- KJV And ye 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.
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 3:29If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise.
- John 17:18As you sent me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world.
- 1 Cor 15:23But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who 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 man, and the head of Christ is God.
- John 17:9–10I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
- 2 Cor 10:7Do you look at things only as they appear in front of your face? If anyone trusts in himself that he is Christ’s, let him consider this again with himself, that, even as he is Christ’s, so also we are Christ’s.
- John 17:21that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.
- Rom 14:8For if we live, we live to the Lord. Or if we die, we die to the Lord. If therefore we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
- Gal 5:24Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.
- 1 Cor 8:6yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him.
- 1 Cor 6:19–20Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
- Phil 2:8–11And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.
- 1 Cor 7:22For he who was called in the Lord being a bondservant is the Lord’s free man. Likewise he who was called being free is Christ’s bondservant.
- Matt 17:5While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”
- Eph 1:10to an administration of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth, in him;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
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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.