What say YE? Who are the Nicolaitans?

No one knows who they are.

 

Nicolaitanes

 

IF YOU WILL READ THIS YOU WILL FIND OUT EXACTLY WHO THE NICOLAITANES WERE AND WHO ARE THE MODERN NICOLAITANES OF OUR DAY:


Christ consented to die in the sinner's stead, that man, by a life of obedience, might escape the penalty of the Law of God. His death did not make the Law of God of none effect; it did not slay the law, lessen its claims, or detract from its sacred dignity. The death of Christ proclaimed the justice of his Father's law in punishing the transgressor, in that he consented to suffer the penalty of the law transgressed himself, in order to save fallen man from its curse. The death of God's beloved Son on the cross shows the immutability of the Law of God. His death magnifies the Law and makes it honorable, and gives evidence to man of its changeless character. From his own divine lips are heard the words, "Think not that I am come to destroy the Law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." The death of Christ justified the claims of the law.

But the doctrine is now largely taught that the Gospel of Christ has made the Law of God of no effect; that by "believing" we are released from the necessity of being doers of the word. But this is the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which Christ so unsparingly condemned. To the church of Ephesus he says: 'I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil; and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars; and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.'

Those who are teaching this doctrine to-day have much to say in regard to faith and the righteousness of Christ; but they pervert the truth, and make it serve the cause of error. They declare that we have only to believe on Jesus Christ, and that faith is all-sufficient; that the righteousness of Christ is to be the sinner's credentials; that this imputed righteousness fulfils the law for us, and that we are under no obligation to obey the law of God. This class claim that Christ came to save sinners, and that he has saved them. "I am saved," they will repeat over and over again. But are they saved while transgressing the law of Jehovah?--No; for the garments of Christ's righteousness are not a cloak for iniquity. Such teaching is a gross deception, and Christ becomes to these persons a stumbling-block as he did to the Jews,--to the Jews because they would not receive him as their personal Saviour; to these professed believers in Christ, because they separate Christ and the Law, and regard faith as a substitute for obedience. They separate the Father and the Son, the Saviour of the world. Virtually they teach, both by precept and example, that Christ, by his death, saves men in their transgressions.

It is necessary that every intelligent being shall understand the principles of the law of God. Christ through the apostle James declares, "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." These words were spoken this side of the death of Christ; therefore the Law was binding upon all at that time. The Saviour raised his voice in protest against those who regard the divine commandments with indifference and carelessness. He said, 'Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." And he also declared, "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the Law till all be fulfilled.'

Men may talk of freedom, of Gospel liberty. They may assert that they are not in bondage to the Law. But the influence of a Gospel hope will not lead the sinner to look upon the salvation of Christ as a matter of free grace, while he continues to live in transgression of the Law of God. When the light of truth dawns upon his mind, and he fully understands the requirements of God, and realizes the extent of his transgressions, he will reform his ways, become loyal to God through the strength obtained from his Saviour, and lead a new and purer life. 'Whosoever abideth in him,' says John, 'sinneth not; whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.'

After realizing that this false doctrine of "believe only" came from the Nicolaitanes, as mentioned by Jesus in the book of Revelation, I later came to in addition find out that the Nicolaitanes were a Gnostic sect. Jesus said that he "hated" the teachings of the Nicolaitanes. The early Christian fought vigorously against their false teachings, as they tried to mingle pagan teachings with Christianity. And so I started researching futher into Gnosticism and as I traced it out, I realized that this idea of "all we have to do is believe" came right from the New Age Movement's teachings!


In old testament times, God's people misunderstood the deep meaning of the ceremonies and rituals they were required to perform. They instead did them expecting to gain the favor of God. Their inward hearts and lives were corrupt. They were unholy hypocrites. God sent His prophets again and again to correct them, but His people did not desire to obey Him out of the motive of love, having a true change of heart. And to substitute external forms of religion for holiness of heart and life is still just as pleasing to the unrenewed nature as it was in the days of these Jewish leaders.

Jesus clearly said to the Jews,
Matthew 5:
18: For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19: Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20: For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
21: Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
22: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Notice that Jesus never said that they didn't need to keep the Law. He didn't say that at all! What He said was that not even a jot(the dotting of an "i") or a tittle(the crossing of a "t" would pass away from the law till heaven and earth ceased to exist, and He clearly said that people should not teach that the law was abolished.

Then to make Himself abundantly clear on this point, the Saviour mentioned a few of the commandments such as: Thou shalt not kill.. and He declared that if you even hate someone in your heart, then you are breaking the commandments! Jesus was explaining that they needed to keep the law inwardly as well as outwardly. Just because they were not outwardly killing someone, didn't mean that made them righteous. If they hated someone it was just as bad as if they had killed them!

Jesus also said that their righteousness needed to EXCEED that of the Pharisees. If not, then they could NOT enter into heaven. The people who claimed to serve God were to be inwardly holy and not merely outwardly righteous. That was why Jesus said things to the Pharisees like, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness." Mt:23:27Outwardly they were all whited and beautiful and kept the mere letter of the Law --to be seen of men, but inwardly they were full of corruption. They continually dishonored God's holy name... the One whom they professed to serve and represent!

And at the present time, Satan induces many professing Christians, under the pretense of honoring Christ, to claim that the law of God may now be disregarded and transgressed altogether with no fear of any consequences. They have wholly lost sight of the commission that Christ gave them, to be the salt of the earth, a light to the world... that by doing good works they might glorify their Father in Heaven. Matthew 5:13-15.

And not only that, but also, -just as God's people in old testament times began to turn to the heathen gods of their day, so too have pagan doctrines and practices been allowed to find their way into the doors of the Christian Church of our day.

Today this same spiritualistic Mystery Religion of ancient Babylon comes repackaged in another form that is called the New Age Movement. George Barna, who heads the Barna Group, a polling organization warns:


"Make no mistake about it: the appeal of the New Age ideas and practices is continuing to grow. Millions of Christians espouse New Age beliefs without realizing what they are doing. Many leaders in the Church are poorly informed and unaware of this subtle threat to Christian orthodoxy." Barna, The Barna Report, 1992-93

New Age teachings are nothing more than spiritualism. Spiritualism is now changing its form and veils some of its more objectionable features. It cleverly assumes a Christian guise.

But even in its present form, Spiritualism is really a more dangerous, because a more subtle, deception. While in the past it denounced Jesus and the Scriptures, it now claims to accept both. However, the important truths of the Bible are explained in such a way as to make them of none effect. And finally, the people are led to reject the Bible as the foundation of their faith. Christ is denied just as much as He was before; yet Satan's deceptions go undetected because they are wrapped up in a new "Christian" package.

In New Age teaching, the law of God is put out of sight and regarded as a dead letter because supposedly "we ourselves are now the law". The New Age Religion teaches that the law of God has been abolished, and that now all we need to do is "love"... and this love is defined in whatever way each individual deems best and degraded into weak sentimentalism!

Do we not today hear this same teaching echoed from many modern Christianity pulpits today? Unfortunately, most have no idea that this idea really originated from Satan. "Do as thou will and harm none" is a spiritualistic teaching that now passes as a Christian one.

How often do we hear "all we need to do now is love one another" from Christian pulpits? Yet the Ten Commandments that God has given us to define true love, are kept cleverly out of site and even declared to be abolished. Yet we have already see that the Apostle Paul has told us that the admonition of Jesus Christ to love God and love your neighbor is "briefly comprehended" or summarized in ALL TEN of the commandments! (see Romans 13:8-10)

Spiritualist teachers set aside the Law of God. They teach that the sinful, erring nature of man is the only standard of character, and they affect great pity for minds so narrow and weak as to acknowledge the claims of God and obey the requirements of His law.

In ancient times, when Spiritualists contacted the "spirit world" the demon-gods fostered the vilest license for sin. The divine precepts condemning sin and enforcing righteousness were set aside and impurity was not only permitted, but also encouraged. Spiritualism declares that there is no death, no sin, no judgments, no retribution; that men are unfallen gods; that desire is the highest law; and that man is accountable only to himself... does not this teaching betray it's true origin?"

Yet much of our modern Christianity has adopted this identical vile teaching!

1Timothy 4:1: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils"

And now, let's see what top New Age Personality, David Spangler has to say about the Law of God:

"The evolution of the race is for man to learn not how to obey the law but how to be the law. There is a vast, vast difference. If you are the law it means that you are at one with the whole. For divine law simply exists. When a person understands this, then he begins to have that attunement, when he is the law, he is not going to act in any way that will disturb or distort the true balance of the true wholeness... The New Age is an age where there is needed that group of people who through attunement can be self-governing, act as the law, as the divine, as the right, as the love."-David Spangler, Relationship and Identity, pg. 89,91,93

"We can take all the Scriptures and all the teachings, and all the tablets and all the Laws, and all the marshmallows and have a jolly good bonfire and marshmallow roast, because that's all they are worth. Once you are the law, once you are the truth, you do not need it externally represented for you." -David Spangler, Emergence: Rebirth of the Sacred, Findhorn Publications, pg. 144

In II Thessalonians Chapter 2 we were warned that there would come a "falling away" in the Church and that this "mystery of iniquity (sin)" was already at work.

Gnosticism appeared in the latter part of the First Century of the Christian Era. Its influence upon New Age thought is undeniable, as New Agers freely admit.The Gnostics tried to interpret Christianity in terms of pagan philosophies, which came from Greek, Egyptian, and Babylonian metaphysics. They took the various teachings from these Occult Mystery Schools, and then attempted to fit the teachings into a new 'Christian' setting, claiming that Gnosticism was the true form of Christianity.

The Gnostics became a sect that claimed to possess a "Secret Knowledge'" that made them superior to the common Christians, who were not privileged to have the same information that they themselves had. They asserted that Christ had allowed them to inherit the Secret Doctrines or esoteric (hidden) teachings of God's Word. And by combining pagan philosophies with the apostolic doctrines of Christianity, Gnosticism became a very strong influence in the ancient Church. But the true Christians labeled it as 'heresy' and fought vigorously against it!

Now these Gnostics claimed that they could know God, yet this so-called "knowing" was not backed up by obedience to God. This war by the true Christians against Gnosticism in the early church can be seen by the words of John. Many Christians in his day claimed to "know" God, but John let them know in no uncertain terms that their claim was false, unless it was backed up by obedience to His commandments! 1Jn:2:3: And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 1Jn:2:4: He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

The false doctrine is now largely taught that the Gospel of Christ has made the Law of God of no effect; that by "believing" we are released from the necessity of being doers of the word. But this is the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which Christ so unsparingly condemned. The Nicolaitans were a Gnostic sect. To the church of Ephesus JOHN said:

"I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil; and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars; and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." Revelation 2:1-7

The Nicolaitans were a Gnostic sect that plagued the church at Ephesus. The founder was Nicolas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism, one of the seven deacons (Acts 6:5). Adherants to this sect taught that deeds of the flesh do not affect the purity of the soul, and thus have no bearing on salvation.

And so this idea of "all we have to do is believe" and just "know God" had it's origin in the Spiritualistic Gnosticism that had entered into the Early Church! Yet their claim to know God was not backed up by the keeping of His commandments. Thus John repeated several times that if a person really knows God, he will keep His commandments! He even repeated the same thought in Revelation in regard to the Nicolaitans saying, "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." Rev. 2:7

What went wrong? Christianity today is following in the footsteps of ancient Israel. The Church lost sight of its mission to the world, in reflecting God's attributes through the keeping of His Law. Little by little, at first in stealth and silence, and then more openly as it increased in strength and gained control of the minds of men, "the mystery of iniquity" has carried forward its deceptive work. Almost imperceptibly the customs of heathenism have found their way into the Christian Church. 2Thes:2:7: For the mystery of iniquity (lawlessness) doth already work.

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come... (many will be) lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 2Timothy 3:1,4,5. Many Christians today claim to love God and have merely an outward form of godliness, while denying the power of God to transform the life! Ezek:33:31: And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.

We do know that this mystery of iniquity has already been at work in the Church. The vital truths of the Scriptures have been watered down almost one degree at a time. This has been done to such a great extent that it is has become increasingly difficult in our day to distinguish the Christian from the worldly man. Satan, the great adversary of God, has been working in secret to undermine the very pillars of the Christian faith. In the book of Jude chapter 1 verse 3, we are exhorted to "earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints". The situation however, is that much of Christianity today has no idea what constitutes "that faith that was once delivered to the saints", and that is why there is much confusion in the Church today.

Today, as then, there are false religious teachers, to whose doctrines many listen with "itching ears". This even has been foretold in the Scriptures: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." 2 Timothy 3:3,4

Yet the eyes of God are over His beloved Church, and He sees and knows it all. Our merciful Lord, in these last days of earth's history, gives a final call to mankind to return to the purity of doctrine that once was held in precious esteem by the church.

In the Book of Revelation, it is brought to our attention that Satan, otherwise known as the Dragon or Serpent would go out to persecute the pure woman (the term "woman" symbolizes the church: Jer:6:2: I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.), and to "make war with the remnant of her seed which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" Rev. 12:17.

By this we should know that there were at one time a pure church, a pure people, who kept the commandments of God and that God has purposely worked to preserve the truths of His Word, that "faith once delivered to the saints," through a special remnant in these last days. The word "remnant" means "the end remainder of". No matter how hard Satan tried to obliterate the truth, God preserved for Himself a remnant, that would proclaim the original pure doctrines.... "that faith once delivered to the saints" Jude 1:3.


Claudia

 

Wow, that was a lot of words to say that Christ's attonment is not all sufficient.

 

Nicolaitans--

If one looks at the two basic roots of this word: conquer(nike) and people(laity), one gets the impression that an unauthorized control has usurped the sovereignty of the assembly membership. Such is readily apparent in the papacy, and daughters of the papacy, also those from Istanbul(Constantinople). The ones with the bisoprics are controlling the rank and file(laity). This is not how the first assembly was set up. The assembly answers to Christ alone--not to a pope, bishop, priest, synod, board or convention.

The deeds of the Nicolaitans removed the sovereignty of several New Testament Churches. The Order of Nicolaus shows itself formally once a year--usually in December. Ho, Ho, Ho.
However, we see the effects daily--e.g. pastor rule, deacon rule.

Selah,

Bro. James

 

The "Center" of Nicolaitan doctrine was that anything done in the "Flesh" had no effect on the "Spiritual".

You could do whatever you chose during the week, then "worship on Sunday".

Of course that doctrine wouldn't set well with a God who wanted his "Spirit" to live in/direct the course of the flesh.