But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Revelation 2:6
In the entire New Testament, the only things declared to be hated by Jesus are the teachings and works of the Nicolaitans. According to Irenaeus of Lyons, this heretical sect was named after Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch (mentioned in Acts 6) and one of the seven deacons. Early church heresies – such as the doctrine of the Nicolaitans – mostly came from Gnosticism, a form of pagan Greek philosophy.
Bacchus was the Greek deity of grape vines and festivity. The doctrine connected to his worship taught that the soul was released from the bondage of this ‘evil material world’ by engaging in the basest of sin. Thus, the Bacchic gospel promoted fornication, wild dancing, and drunken festivity as a way of salvation. Like the worshipers of Bacchus, Irenaeus of Lyons recorded that the Nicolaitans ‘lead lives of unrestrained indulgence’. They were also reported to share a community of wives.
This sect continued through the ages, for we see Jesus rebuking the church at Pergamon for harbouring these preachers of wickedness: ‘so hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate’. We learn from this rebuke that the Nicolaitans were justified in their deeds according to the doctrine they held. This doctrine was evidently a form of ‘antinomianism’, a Greek word meaning ‘against law’ (anti-nomos).
The Bacchic doctrine of the Nicolaitans is alive and well in mainstream Christianity today. Wresting the true meaning of the doctrines of grace taught by Paul, multitudes assert that ‘believing’ releases them from obedience to the law of God. Boasting of their liberty from the ‘bondage’ of God’s commandments, neo-Nicolaitans deceive themselves by repeating the mantra, ‘I am saved, I am saved’, while dismissing those who strive to obey God’s law as lacking in faith.
But can anyone who lives in rebellion to Jehovah be saved? The grace of Christ is not a cloak for iniquity. True faith works by love and purifies the soul. True faith empowers men to obey all of God’s commandments. Those who have this faith will demonstrate the indwelling of their Master, who came to ‘magnify the law, and make it honourable’ (Isaiah 42:21). They will eschew sin (the transgression of the law), saying with David, ‘I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love’ (Psalm 119:163).
Christopher Sparks