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.
- BSB which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
- NKJV 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 1:18–19He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
- John 1:16From his fullness we all received grace upon grace.
- Col 2:9–10For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily,
- Eph 4:12for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ;
- Eph 3:19and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
- Eph 4:10He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
- 1 Cor 15:28When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son will also himself be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all.
- Col 1:24Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the assembly;
- 1 Cor 12:12–27For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ.
- Col 3:15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
- Eph 2:16and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility thereby.
- Eph 5:23–32For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the assembly, being himself the savior of the body.
- Col 3:11where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.
- Eph 4:4There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling;
- 1 Cor 12:6There are various kinds of workings, but the same God, who works all things in all.
- Rom 13:5Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.
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.