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Philippians 3:21

who will transform the body of our lowly condition into conformity with His glorious body, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
Philippians 3:21 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB who 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.
  • KJV Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
  • BSB who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
  • NKJV who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
  • NLT He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

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

Christ will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious resurrection body, by the same power that subjects all things to him. Final salvation includes the redemption of the body.

Overview

Paul caps the chapter with the believer's bodily hope: the same Lord who is awaited from heaven will conform our frail, mortal bodies to the likeness of his glorified body. This rests on his almighty power, the power by which he will subdue everything to himself. Salvation is thus not escape from the body but its glorious renewal in conformity to the risen Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 17

  • 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.
  • Col 3:4When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.
  • 1 Cor 15:42–56So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable.
  • 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.
  • John 11:24–26Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
  • Isa 26:19Your dead shall live. My dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth will cast out the departed spirits.
  • Matt 28:18Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
  • Matt 17:2He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light.
  • Eph 1:19–20and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might
  • John 5:25–29Most certainly, I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and those who hear will live.
  • Rev 1:13–20And among the lamp stands was one like a son of man, clothed with a robe reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his chest.
  • Rev 1:8“I am the Alpha and the Omega, ” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
  • Isa 25:8He 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.
  • Hos 13:14I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death! Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction? “Compassion will be hidden from my eyes.
  • 1 Cor 15:25–28For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
  • Rev 20:11–15I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them.
  • Matt 22:29But Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Philippians videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

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

  • VideoWatch teaching on Philippians 3:21YouTube · 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 PhilippiansMatthew 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 one who, being in the form of God, emptied himself to the point of death on a cross and was exalted to the name above every name — the joy and prize of the believer.

How Philippians 3:21 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.