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And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
Colossians 3:4 · New Living Translation
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.
  • BSB When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will 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.

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. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies.
  • 1 Jn 3:2Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is.
  • Gal 2:20I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, 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, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ —
  • Phil 3:21who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working by which he is able even to subject all things to himself.
  • John 17:24Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may see my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.
  • 1 Pet 5:4When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the crown of glory that doesn’t fade away.
  • Rev 22:14Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.
  • 2 Th 1:10–12when he comes to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired among all those who have believed (because our testimony to you was believed) in that day.
  • 1 Jn 2:28Now, little children, remain in him, that when he appears, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
  • Heb 9:28so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, without sin, to those who are eagerly waiting for him for salvation.
  • Jude 1:24Now to him who is able to keep them from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory in 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, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life
  • Ps 17:15As for me, I shall see your face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with seeing your form.
  • Matt 13:43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
  • 1 Jn 5:12He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn’t have God’s Son doesn’t have the life.
  • Titus 2:13looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ;
  • Rev 22:1He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,
  • John 14:6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
  • 2 Tim 4:8From now on, there is stored up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day; and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved his appearing.
  • 2 Cor 4:17For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory;
  • John 14:3If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also.
  • 1 Cor 1:7so that you come behind in no gift; waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ;
  • 1 Th 4:17then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.
  • Ps 73:24You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
  • John 20:31but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.
  • John 6:39–40This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day.
  • 2 Tim 1:1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus,
  • Isa 25:8–9He has swallowed up death forever! The Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from off all faces. He will take the reproach of his people away from off all the earth, for Yahweh has spoken it.
  • Acts 3:15and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, to which we are witnesses.
  • Rev 2:7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of my God.
  • 1 Tim 6:14that you keep the commandment without spot, blameless, until the appearing 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.