Very soon after the birth of the true Church on the Day Of Pentecost the good news of the salvation offered by Jesus Christ began to spread and numerous churches started to spring up in various areas of the Roman Empire. Asia Minor was home to many fellowships of The Body Of Christ with at least three in the region of Phrygia in close proximity to each other in the Lycus River Valley, viz., the churches of Colosse, Hierapolis, and Laodicea.
If you have committed your life to Christ and want brief instruction on growing in Christ please listen to Seven Roots For Growth In Christ. Also, please take this series of free lessons on Basic Elements Of Christianity at sapphirestreams.com/bec/ .
Those who have read the book of the Acts Of The Apostles know that soon after the birth of the true Church many fellowships in the Body Of Christ experienced persecution and, after a short time, false doctrines, false prophets, those that insisted on circumcision, and the like began to pester the churches, including the fellowships of Colosse and its nearby sister churches. For the church at Colosse it was mixture Gnosticism, Judaism, and smattering of certain beliefs and mystery religions. This mixture has been termed by many commentators as "the Colossian Heresy." That term needs to be understood in the sense that this spiritually poisonous mixture was not coming from that church, but it was trying to have a disastrous influence upon that church.
Paul was probably alerted to that influence by Epaphras, whom he describes by the Holy Spirit as "a faithful minister of Christ" to the church at Colosse (Colossians 1:7-8). As a consequence, Paul was moved by the Holy Spirit to write to the Colossian church, emphasizing the supremacy of Christ and how they ought to embrace His supremacy.
Though, at the time of the production of these podcasts, almost two thousand years have elapsed, the same forces that attempted to infiltrate into the Colossian church are trying to poison today's disciples of Christ. Sometimes the intrusion is obvious and at other times it is very subtle. It does well for new ones in Christ to add Colossians as another "first read" and "repeat read" after first doing the same with 1 John, the Gospel Of John, 2 and 3 John.
Most importantly, by the grace of God we are to apply what we read to every moment of our lives on earth. When we embrace the supremacy of Christ we enjoy His completeness within ourselves which also provides the spiritual strength and stamina to avoid the poisons of the world and the devil which our old nature used to feed upon.
Our course on "Ephesians To Thessalonians" at Northeast Bible Institute (NBI)* included an assignment to create our own notes on Colossians. So, I and other students surely made use of the good, Biblically sound commentaries and references stored in the school's library. I have also purchased such materials over the years. I have included a list of references below the list of podcasts for this series, "Embrace Christ's Supremacy." These podcasts, created in 2024 and 2025, are based upon additional research over the years and dependence upon guidance from the Holy Spirit to address today's issues as well as what may develop for future generations. "I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come," Psalm 71:18.
Sincerely,
Brother Peter Macinta
Podcasts
Podcast Time Date Published Designation
Colossian Heresy, Gnosticism, Judaism, Mystery Religions, Christ, Turkey, Colosse, Colossians, Laodicea, apostle, apostleship, grace, peace, Paul, Timothy, saints, sainthood, prison epistles, higher criticism |#ColossianHeresy #Gnosticism #Judaism #MysteryReligions #Christ #Turkey #Colosse #Colossians #Laodicea #apostle #apostleship #grace #peace #Paul #Timothy #saints #sainthood #prisonepistles #highercriticism
Note: If the regular player does not show click on "webamp" to use that player.
faith, faithfulness, hope, love, charity, thanksgiving, prayer, Godhead, Trinity, Apostle Paul, NIV, ESV, New International Version, English Standard Version |#faith #faithfulness #hope #love #charity #thanksgiving #prayer #Godhead #Trinity #ApostlePaul #NIV #ESV #NewInternationalVersion #EnglishStandardVersion
Note: If the regular player does not show click on "webamp" to use that player.
truth, grace, faith, faithfulness, world, Epaphras, minister, pastor, heresy, heresies, love, Holy Spirit, evangelism, Gospel |#truth #grace #faith #faithfulness #world #Epaphras #minister #pastor #heresy #heresies #love #HolySpirit #evangelism #Gospel
prayer, fill, filled, knowledge, knowledge of God, will of God, wisdom, spiritual understanding, spiritual realm, Word Of God, behavior, worthiness, good works, strength, power, patience, longsuffering, joy |#prayer #fill #filled #knowledge #knowledgeofGod #willofGod #wisdom #spiritualunderstanding #spiritualrealm #WordOfGod #behavior #worthiness #goodworks #strength #power #patience #longsuffering #joy
Maps
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This map shows a much closer view in Asia Minor of the location of the three cities mentioned in The Epistle To The Colossians, viz., Hierapolis, Laodicea, and Colosse, which are underlined in red. This map was created from a base map from Biblemapper.com. |
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This is a map of Asia Minor which is now known as the country of Türkiye (Turkey). sometimes referred to in the Holy Scriptures simply as Asia. Inside the small rectangle is basically the area depicted in Map 1 above. The base image for this map is from Open.Bible and is licensed under a CC-BY-SA license. |
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Map 3 shows the territories of Europe, Asia, and Africa that surround the eastern portion of the Mediterranean Sea. The section within the red rectangle shows the area noted in Map 2 above. The base image for this map is from Open.Bible and is licensed under a CC-BY-SA license. |
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Bibliography
I might need to add to this list as we go through The Epistle Of The Colossians.
Bruce, F. F: "New Testament History," Doubleday And Company, Inc., Garden City, NY. 1980
Carson, Herbert Moore: "Epistles Of Paul To The Colossians And Philemon," Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI. 1966 | Home Copy: Tyndale Press, London, UK. 1960
Kerr, John Henry: "An Introduction To The Study Of The Books Of The New Testament," Flemming H. Revell Company, New York, NY. 1931 Lenski, R. C. H.: "The Interpretation Of Saint Paul's Epistles To The Colossians, To The Thessalonians, To Timothy, To Titus, And To Philemon," Ausburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, MN. 1961
Lenski, R. C. H.: "The Interpretation Of Saint Paul's Epistles To The Colossians, To The Thessalonians, To Timothy, To Titus, And To Philemon," Ausburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, MN. 1961
Lewis, C. S.: "The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia," Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI. Volume 2. Orr, James (editor). 1939
Lightfoot, J. B.: "Saint Paul's Epistles To The Colossians And Philemon," Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI. 1965
Nielsen, John B: "The Beacon Bible Commentary," volume IX, Beacon Hill Press Of Kansas City, Kansas City, MO 1965
Qualben Lars P.: "A History Of the Christian Church," Thomas Nelson And Sons, New York. 1968
Strong, James: A digital version of Strong's Exhaustive Concordance by James Strong incorporated in the Online Bible program or the digital version included at blueletterbible.org .
Tenney , Merrill C.: "New Testament Survey," Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI. 1961
Thayer, John Henry: "Greek - English Lexicon Of The New Testament," Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI. 1972
Trench, R.C.: "Synonyms Of The New Testament," Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI. 1973
Turner, George A.: "The Wesleyan Bible Commentary," volume 5, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI. 1971
Vine, W. E.: An Expository Dictionary Of New Testament Words — Somehow I am blessed with numerous copies of this great work.
Notes And Resources
Notes:
* = A year or two after I graduated, Northeast Bible Institute (NBI) became Northeast Bible College from which I earned a Bachelors Of Science in Bible. A few years later, the school moved from its beautiful location in Green Lane Pennsylvania to Phoenixville Pennsylvania and is now called University Of Valley Forge.
Resources:
Blueletter Bible, blueletterbible.org .
Online Bible: For North America visit onlinebible.net . Outside of North America visit onlinebible.org . Online Bible is also freely available for Android, iOS and macOS. Please visit onlinebible.com to download these apps.
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