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When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Colossians 3:4 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.
  • KJV When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
  • NKJV When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
  • NASB When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
  • NLT And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.

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

When Christ, who is our life, appears, believers will appear with Him in glory. Our future glory is tied to Christ's return.

Overview

Paul calls Christ 'our life,' the very source of the believer's existence. At His second coming He 'is revealed,' and then believers 'will also be revealed with him in glory.' The life now hidden (v.3) will be openly displayed when Christ returns, the certain hope that motivates present holiness.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 33

  • John 11:25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
  • 1 Jn 3:2Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.
  • Gal 2:20I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
  • 1 Pet 1:13Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
  • Phil 3:21who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
  • John 17:24Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, that they may see the glory You gave Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
  • 1 Pet 5:4And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
  • Rev 22:14Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates.
  • 2 Th 1:10–12on the day He comes to be glorified in His saints and regarded with wonder by all who have believed, including you who have believed our testimony.
  • 1 Jn 2:28And now, little children, remain in Christ, so that when He appears, we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming.
  • Heb 9:28so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.
  • Jude 1:24Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—
  • 1 Cor 15:43It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.
  • 1 Jn 1:1–2That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life.
  • Ps 17:15As for me, I will behold Your face in righteousness; when I awake, I will be satisfied in Your presence.
  • Matt 13:43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
  • 1 Jn 5:12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
  • Titus 2:13as we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
  • Rev 22:1Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
  • John 14:6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
  • 2 Tim 4:8From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.
  • 2 Cor 4:17For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.
  • John 14:3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.
  • 1 Cor 1:7Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • 1 Th 4:17After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.
  • Ps 73:24You guide me with Your counsel, and later receive me in glory.
  • John 20:31But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.
  • John 6:39–40And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day.
  • 2 Tim 1:1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
  • Isa 25:8–9He will swallow up death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth. For the LORD has spoken.
  • Acts 3:15You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of the fact.
  • Rev 2:7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.
  • 1 Tim 6:14Keep this commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

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 3:4YouTube · 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 3:4 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.