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and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator,
Colossians 3:10 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
  • BSB and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
  • NKJV and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
  • NASB and have put on the new self, which is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created it—
  • NLT Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.

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

They have put on the new self, which is being renewed in the image of its Creator. Christians are being progressively remade to reflect God.

Overview

Having taken off the old self, believers 'have put on the new man,' a new self created in union with Christ. This new self 'is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator,' restoring the divine image marred by the fall. Sanctification is God's ongoing work of conforming us to Christ, in whom that image is perfectly seen.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 29

  • Eph 4:23–24and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
  • Rom 12:2Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.
  • Eph 2:10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
  • 2 Cor 5:17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.
  • Col 3:12Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance;
  • Ps 51:10Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
  • Ezek 11:19I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh;
  • Ezek 36:26I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
  • Col 3:14Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.
  • Rom 13:14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.
  • 1 Jn 2:5But whoever keeps his word, God’s love has most certainly been perfected in him. This is how we know that we are in him:
  • 1 Jn 2:3This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments.
  • Rom 8:29For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
  • 2 Cor 4:6seeing it is God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
  • Eph 2:15having abolished in his flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace;
  • John 17:3This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
  • Ezek 18:31Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, house of Israel?
  • 1 Pet 1:14–15as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance,
  • Gal 6:15For in Christ Jesus neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.
  • 2 Cor 3:18But we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit.
  • Gen 1:26–27God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
  • Rom 13:12The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let’s therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light.
  • Rev 21:5He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” He said, “Write, for these words of God are faithful and true.”
  • Isa 52:1Awake, awake! Put on your strength, Zion. Put on your beautiful garments, Jerusalem, the holy city: for from now on the uncircumcised and the unclean will no more come into you.
  • 1 Cor 15:53–54For this perishable body must become imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
  • Gal 3:27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
  • Heb 6:6and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame.
  • Job 29:14I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. My justice was as a robe and a diadem.
  • Isa 59:17He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head. He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a mantle.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Colossians videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Colossians 3:10YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ColossiansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The image of the invisible God, firstborn over creation, in whom all things hold together and all the fullness of God dwells bodily — supreme over every power.

How Colossians 3:10 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.