So I have reason to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God.
Parallel translations
- WEB I have therefore my boasting in Christ Jesus in things pertaining to God.
- KJV I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God.
- BSB Therefore I exult in Christ Jesus in my service to God.
- NKJV Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God.
- NASB Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God.
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
Paul says his boasting is in Christ Jesus regarding his service to God. Any glory he claims is in what Christ has done, not in himself.
Overview
Paul speaks of legitimate 'boasting,' but carefully locates it 'in Christ Jesus.' He glories not in personal achievement but in the work of Christ through him in the things of God. This guards against self-exaltation while acknowledging real ministry. It reflects Paul's consistent stance: whatever is accomplished is by grace, so boasting must be in the Lord alone.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 2 Cor 2:14–16Now thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and reveals through us the sweet aroma of his knowledge in every place.
- 2 Cor 12:11–21I have become foolish in boasting. You compelled me, for I ought to have been commended by you, for in nothing was I inferior to the very best apostles, though I am nothing.
- 2 Cor 7:4Great is my boldness of speech toward you. Great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I overflow with joy in all our affliction.
- 2 Cor 3:4–6Such confidence we have through Christ toward God;
- Heb 5:1For every high priest, being taken from among men, is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.
- 2 Cor 12:1It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. For I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
- Phil 3:3For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh;
- Heb 2:17Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.
- 2 Cor 11:16–30I say again, let no one think me foolish. But if so, yet receive me as foolish, that I also may boast a little.
- Rom 4:2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not toward God.
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 15:17 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.