which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Parallel translations
- WEB which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
- KJV Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
- NKJV which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
- NASB which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
- NLT And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.
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
The church is Christ's body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. It reveals the intimate union and glory of the church in Christ.
Overview
Paul calls the church Christ's 'body,' a profound image of living union with him as head. The phrase 'the fullness of him who fills all in all' is debated, but it points to the church's being filled and completed by Christ, who himself fills the whole universe. The chapter closes by exalting both Christ and the people joined to him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Col 1:18–19And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.
- John 1:16From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.
- Col 2:9–10For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.
- Eph 4:12to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ,
- Eph 3:19of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
- Eph 4:10He who descended is the very One who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things.
- 1 Cor 15:28And when all things have been subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all.
- Col 1:24Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church.
- 1 Cor 12:12–27The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ.
- Col 3:15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called as members of one body. And be thankful.
- Eph 2:16and reconciling both of them to God in one body through the cross, by which He extinguished their hostility.
- Eph 5:23–32For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.
- Col 3:11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.
- Eph 4:4There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;
- 1 Cor 12:6There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people.
- Rom 13:5Therefore it is necessary to submit to authority, not only to avoid punishment, but also as a matter of conscience.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Every spiritual blessing is 'in Christ,' the head over all things for the church, in whom Jew and Gentile are made one new man by his blood.
How Ephesians 1:23 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.