EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Ephesians 1:23
23The church is like Christ's body and he is its head. Christ fills all things everywhere and he causes the church to become complete.
Ephesians 1:23 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
- New International Version (NIV)which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
- English Standard Version (ESV)which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
- New King James Version (NKJV)which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Context of Ephesians 1:23
21There, Christ rules over every other ruler and leader. He rules over everything else that has authority. He is greater than any power which people respect. That is true for the rulers of this world now, and also the rulers of the world that will come. 22God has put all things under Christ's authority. He has made Christ the ruler over all things. He has done this to help his people, the church. The church is like Christ's body and he is its head. Christ fills all things everywhere and he causes the church to become complete.
Read all of Ephesians 1Ephesians 1:23 word by word
ἥτις ἐστὶν τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ, τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν πληρουμένου.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ephesians 1:23
- Ephesians 2:16As a single group, Christ brought Jews and Gentiles back to God. He stopped them from hating each other. He did this by his death on the cross.
- Ephesians 4:4As God's people, you are like one body. There is one Spirit that gives you life. God has chosen you to be his own people. So you all expect to receive the same great things from God.
- Ephesians 5:23A husband has authority over his wife, in the same way that Christ has authority over the church. The church is like Christ's body. As its head, he saves her.
- Romans 13:5So you must obey the people who have authority to rule. You must obey them not only so that they do not punish you. You must obey them because it is right to obey them. And you yourselves know that this is right.
- 1 Corinthians 12:12Each person has only one body, but that body has many parts. All those different parts make only one body. It is like that with Christ too.
- Colossians 1:18The church is like Christ's body and he is its head. He is where it all begins. As God's special Son, he was the first person who became alive again after death. As a result, Christ is first and most important in all things.
- Colossians 3:15Christ has given you peace in your minds. So let that peace rule your thoughts. God has chosen you to be like one body, as his people. So he wants you to live together in peace. Thank God for everything that he gives to you.
- Ephesians 3:19Christ's love for us is so great that nobody can ever completely know it. As you understand this more and more, God's own nature will completely fill you.
- Ephesians 4:10So the man who came down is also the man who went up, high above all the heavens. He did that so that he would fill everything everywhere.
- John 1:16The Word is full of everything that we need. We have all received one good thing after another good thing.
- 1 Corinthians 12:6We do different kinds of work. But it is the same God who helps us all to work in different ways.
- 1 Corinthians 15:28When God has put all things under Christ's authority, then God's Son, Jesus Christ, will put himself under his Father's authority. Then God will have complete authority over all things, everywhere.
- Colossians 1:19God chose to put his nature in Christ completely.
- Colossians 2:9The whole nature of God himself lives in Christ, in his human body.
- Colossians 3:11People have this new nature only because they belong to Christ. That is the important thing. Jews are not different from Gentiles. It does not matter whether someone has circumcised you or not. It does not matter which country you come from or how clever you are. It does not matter whether you are a slave or a free person. Christ is all that matters. He lives in every believer.
Commentaries on Ephesians 1:23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23Which is his body - As he is head over all things, he is head to the Church; and this Church is considered as the body of which he is especially the head; and from him, as the head, the Church receives light, life, and intelligence. And is the fullness of him - That in which he especially manifests his power, goodness, and truth; for though he fills all the world with his presence, yet he fills all the members of his mystical body with wisdom, goodness…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23Which is his body - This comparison of the church with “a person” or body, of which the Lord Jesus is the head, is not uncommon in the New Testament; compare the notes at 1 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Corinthians 12:27, note; Ephesians 4:15-16, notes. The fulness of him - The word rendered here as “fulness” - ́ plērōma- means properly, that with which anything is filled; the filling up; the contents; notes, Romans 11:12. The exact idea here, however, is not…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-23Verses 15-23 God has laid up spiritual blessings for us in his Son the Lord Jesus; but requires us to draw them out and fetch them in by prayer. Even the best Christians need to be prayed for: and while we hear of the welfare of Christian friends, we should pray for them. Even true believers greatly want heavenly wisdom. Are not the best of us unwilling to come under God's yoke, though there is no other way to find rest for the soul? Do we not for a…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 23the fullness of Him who fills all in all: This challenging phrase likely means that the church, as his body, fully expresses Christ in this world. His presence, which fills the entire universe, is reflected in and works through his body (4:10).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. his body--His mystical and spiritual, not literal, body. Not, however, merely figurative, or metaphorical. He is really, though spiritually, the Church's Head. His life is her life. She shares His crucifixion and His consequent glory. He possesses everything, His fellowship with the Father, His fulness of the Spirit, and His glorified manhood, not merely for Himself, but for her, who has a membership of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones (Ep…Read the comment
Topics related to Ephesians 1:23
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ephesians 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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