Acts 6:3 Wherefore, brethren, look you out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. 4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
Acts 6:5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch. 6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.
Question: What then is the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which The Lord hates? The most prominent doctrine of the Nicolaitanes is Gnosticism: The deeds of the flesh do not affect the purity of the soul, and therefore, have no bearing on your salvation. It is a well-documented fact that devils recycle old errors, and often bring them back in a new, different format. But underneath the veneer of modernism is the same old, same old. As we study, keep in mind what the doctrine is:
The deeds of the flesh do not affect the purity of the soul, and therefore, they do not have any bearing on your salvation. Among the many modern-day spinoffs of that same doctrine are as follows: [1] The law of ten commandments was nailed to the cross at Calvary. [2] Once saved always saved. [3] Conscientious obedience to God being labeled as legalism. [4] Only believe. [5] Relativism.
James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!