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Nicolas, one of the first church Deacons, (Acts 6:5) develops and teaches adoctrine that is named after him. In his doctrine based on Greek dualism, he andhis followers declared that Christian are sinners saved by grace which meantChristians could look like the world, dress like the world, and live like theworld in all types of sin and still remain saved. His teaching laid the foundationfor the development of the doctrines of Eternal Security, once saved always savedand confession to a priest while living in sin. Since his teaching required nooutward or inward change to be saved (No Repentance), he and his followersattracted large numbers of converts both from the many pagan religious systems ofhis day and the early Christian church world. The doctrine of the Nicolaitansviolated apostles teachings, and thus the ones of Jesus as well, on self-sanctification and holiness. (Ro 6:1, 12:1, I Thl 4:3-7, I Ti 2:8-10) When theGreat Falling Away began it started the changing Apostle's teaching on repentance,holiness and sin, then water baptism and then Godhead. Between between 50 AD-325AD all of these doctrine and teachings were changed by the Nicolaitanes and theCatholic fathers. The name, Nicolaitanes, is a compound word which is composed ofthree Greek words, and which, because of being a proper noun, is transferredinstead of being translated into English. As thus transferred, it is subject tothe laws of Greek construction in regard to ellipsis, contraction and phonetics.The Greek words used in its construction are first: “Nikos,” of which we use theEnglish equivalents instead of the Greek letters, as we shall also of the othertwo. Nikos is defined as “a conquest; victory; triumph; the conquered; and byimplication, dominancy over the defeated.” Another transferred name in which thisterm is used is “Nicopolis,” i.e., Niko – conquest; polis city. Hence, the city ofconquest, or city of victory. Also “Andro” — “nikos;” a man of conquest, ofvictory.The second term used in the name under consideration is “laos,” — people, anotheruse of which is Nicolas, which is transferred and is composed of Nikoslaos andmeans one who is “victorious over the people,” the letter “s” being, in bothwords, the nominative case ending, which is retained only at the end of the wordto denote the case, while “a” short and “o” short are contracted into “a” long.Rev 2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them thathold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before thechildren of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commitfornication. Jesus also linked the Nicolatians to the error of Baalam, an OldTestament false prophet who has become a biblical symbol for apostasy.Here in Pergamum, one can see the “doctrine of Balaam” strictly condemned byChrist. It is important that we understand what Balaam’s “doctrine” was, so thatwe may steer clear of it today. What the Old Testament alludes to- Jesus makesvery plain – the doctrine of Balaam involved idolatry and sexual immorality. Iencourage you to read the story for yourself in Numbers chapters 22-24. To make along story short, Balak hired Balaam (a prophet of sorts who is called a“southsayer” in Joshua 13:22 KJV) to curse Israel. After many attempts to bribehim by Balak, Balaam finally realises that he cannot curse what God has blessed.It will take more than some verbal curse to make Israel vulnerable to her enemies.So he comes up with a strategy. That strategy is later shown in Numbers 31:8-16.What really becomes obvious is that Balaam’s strategy included getting thechildren of Israel to commit sexual immorality with the Midianite women. Incommitting this trespass, the men of Israel were also mingling with the pagan godsworshipped by these women. This is a perfect example of religious syncretism.That’s a big theological word, but it basically means a “mixture” of differentbelief systems. What makes it so deadly is that it gives the outward appearance ofpiety and reverence for God, all the while tolerating the things that he clearly
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