Revelation 2:6

But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

The works of the Nicolaitans ... This is not a reference merely to the evil deeds of the group mentioned, but to the promulgation of their evil doctrine, as appears a little later. Who were they? Irenaeus said that, "They are the followers of that Nicolas who was one of the seven first ordained to the diaconate by the apostles."[24] They taught that it was a matter of indifference to commit adultery or eat things sacrificed to idols. "It was an exaggeration of the doctrine of Christian liberty which attempted an ethical compromise with heathenism."[25] The reference to the Nicolaitans and to the doctrine of Balaam in the same passage (Revelation 2:14,15), a moment later, together with the phrase "in like manner" seems to indicate that the teachings were essentially the same. Despite the assertion of Irenaeus cited above, some students refuse to allow the identification of that sect with Nicolas, one of the Seven (Acts 6:5), Lenski complaining that, "It is a moral law not to make a noble Christian man a Judas without full evidence that he turned out to be a Judas."[26] Of course, no one can disagree with that; but Moffatt declares that, "There is no reason to doubt the original connection of the party with him (Nicolaus)."[27] Still it must be confessed that very little is known of this sect except what is revealed here.

[24] Irenaeus, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. I, Translated by Roberts and Donaldson (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, n.d.), p. 352.

[25] Merrill C. Tenney, Interpreting Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1957), p. 61.

[26] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 90.

[27] James Moffatt, op. cit., p. 351.