Being Lukewarm
I have often wondered why the Lord used this term, and why there was such a danger in being lukewarm. This morning in prayer there came a realization that was so vivid concerning this horrible danger, and I hope to relate what the horror is all about.
Lukewarm is a word that Jesus uses in His depiction of the Laodiceans, the seventh church in Revelation. Let's first take a look at the passage, and define the word that Jesus uses. Revelation 3:14-22 ¶ And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
In the entire New testament, this is the only place this word is used. Jesus uses this specific word which is not found in any other part of the Word to describe the Laodiceans. The usage of this word is imperative to our understanding of the Scriptures in this passage and as a whole because of the context that Jesus lays for us in speaking to the seventh church, Laodicea.
5513 cliaroV chliaros khlee-ar-os’
from chlio (to warm); TDNT-2:876,296; adj
AV-lukewarm 1; 1
1) tepid, lukewarm
2) metaph. of the condition of the soul wretchedly fluctuating between a torpor and a fervour of love
From Robertson's Word Pictures
{Lukewarm} (\chliaros\). Tepid. Old adjective from \chliô\, to liquefy, to melt, here alone in N.T. {I will} (\mellô\). "I am about to," on the point of. {Spew thee} (\se emesai\). First aorist active infinitive of \emeô\, old verb to vomit, to reject with extreme disgust, here alone in N.T.
From Vine's Expository Dictionary
Chliaros/cliaroV, tepid, warm (akin to chlio, to become warm, and not found in the NT or Septuagint), is used metaphorically in Rev. 3:16, of the state of the Laodicean church, which afforded no refreshment to the Lord, such as is ministered naturally by either cold or hot water.
Now let's look closely at the passage for all the context and key issues around this word, lukewarm. We have an understanding of the word usage, it is an adjective that John shows Jesus as using in setting the scene of hypocrisy of the Laodicean church. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Jesus first and foremost is totally aware of their works as a church. He doesn't miss any detail in each and every members' day to day living. Jesus knows these people are NOT hot and they are NOT cold. As Vine's relates, hot water is great for bathing, it is a comforter and refresher, and cold water to the dry and hot will quench the thirst, and minister a refreshing comfort to the individual. There is also the idea that cold is very clearly cold, and hot is very clearly hot, both are known without any compromise of definition and thought. A person who is passionate and emotional is clearly that, there can be no other words to describe such a one, and that person is aware that they are HOT in taking this issue to the metaphoric usage that Vine's so aptly states it is. The same is true for the COLD! A person who is cold clearly has made their choices based upon what they have seen and used for information, they are COLD, and they have chosen to be COLD. They may say they are open minded, they may call themselves liberal, and these things may be true of them, but what also is true and very much a reality, they know what they are, what they believe, they are COLD.
On the other hand by definition, we have the problem that Jesus is bringing to the table, the problem of one who is lukewarm. The person who is lukewarm, the tepid person, the person who will be vomited from the mouth of Jesus because they are lukewarm, this person has a sight problem. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: The lukewarm person sees themselves as perfectly fine, they point to many things, they attend church, they tithe, they call themselves rich. This is no different today. The average person who attends church bases their relationship either consciously or subconsciously on works stating that these works prove their relationship. This type of person would say to anyone who questions them, "Who made you judge? How dare you judge me! Jesus and I have an understanding. I am eternally secure. Once a person is saved, they are always saved." Preach a message to someone who has a savior, and the message goes over their heads. What did Jesus say about Laodicea? And knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: These people didn't even know Jesus! These people were pointing to the good in their lives claiming that showed all who was their God. However, Jesus states clearly that these church members were so bad that He was about to vomit them from His mouth, and they wouldn't even be aware that it was going to happen. They were blind to their condition, they were blind to who they were.
The Laodicean pointed to the food on their table and the fact they didn't need anything claiming by inference that God had supplied all they need, it was God behind what they had, God was their Provider and Savior. Since God was their Savior, who is anyone to call them to task for their nakedness, their wretchedness, their poverty! Their God is real, and no one has any right to question their relationship. They are right with God and their riches are the proof of this belief. This is circular reasoning and has absolutely no common sense whatsoever. The very people who claim they are "saved by grace" point to a work as to why they are eternally secure. No matter the truth, it is far too easy to become lukewarm when a lackadaisical attitude brought on from unrepentant sin invades like a cancer. My sister is fighting a battle of cancer for the fourth time and is guaranteed a loss. She will die at the tender age of 42 because cancer has propagated prolifically from the breasts which were removed and now found abundantly in the brain in addition to the liver and bone marrow. She has 6 to 12 months to live, then she faces eternity. One could point to her living and claim that she is fine, she has bills, she works to pay them, she drives, pointing to the issues that one assumes presents the case for life. The Laodicean position is the same thing neglecting the truth that outweighs all truth, God's view. Just as my sister doesn't need life because she is living, a Laodicean doesn't need a Savior because they attend church, had a day when they said a prayer, they consummated their prayer with perhaps being baptized in water, therefore they don't need Jesus because they are convinced they already have Jesus. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
The Godhead will never give up on Their creation! It isn't in God's heart to allow any to perish (2Peter 3:9), yet most do perish and go to a devil's hell (Matt 7:14). We are washed in His blood by faith and the power of grace, there's no other way except through repentance of sins, yet to arrogantly assume that one day carries the weight of that relationship rejects all the cautions and admonitions of Scripture found in countless passages. Look at what else Jesus tells the Laodiceans. vss 18-19 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Jesus does love the Laodiceans and He desires a precious relationship with them, yet if they continue in their position in need of repentance, they will toss Him aside for their riches of the world, and when they face eternity they will be vomited from the mouth of the One they said was their Savior. Jesus is correcting them and some are indeed lost, and some are near that stage of lostness, yet they are still backslidden and because of His love, He is chastening them to repent, to see where they are and to repent now when the chance is still there. They can say to themselves all they want that they are okay, yet the Word is clear, they are not okay.
Herein is a problem with doctrine that can be taken to extremities. There are those who believe that one can be saved over and over again, and so they always preach salvation and record their numbers proudly proclaiming they are doing a mighty work for the Lord. Many of these people are Pentecostals. The truth is one can be washed in the blood of Jesus and become born again one time. I find no where in Scripture where one can be born again over and over, but I do find where those who are born again can walk away from the Lord and become apostate, a clear sign of these end times which we live and that the Laodiceans live in. Just as we have one time to be born again, the extremist doctrine of being saved over and over is clearly wrong, the other extremist doctrine that once we are born again we can never fall away is just as alarming and very wrong. The Laodiceans may be these eternal securitists as I have had many tell me, "They are called a church, they may have lost all their rewards, but they will never lose their salvation." This doctrine makes people feel good while they walk and live in their sins, but these eternal securitists can never answer the question as to why Jesus is on the outside of the heart and not on the inside. They can't answer the question as to why Jesus calls these Laodiceans puke, there just isn't any sense in telling me that puke will make eternal life with Jesus.
What you or I think is inconsequential because what Jesus thinks overrules everything. If He says something such as what I am about to quote, we must never do away with the words hoping that we can feel better about ourselves since it would make us feel bad. God's Word may have a little discomfort at first because it steps on our toes, but He has the grace to fix the toes and clean the sin problem making us righteous and holy in His sight, and remember unless we are righteous and holy, we will not see Jesus (Hebrews 12:14). vs 20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Jesus is on the outside. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and His sheep hear His voice (John 10), yet here there is a question as the whether any will hear Him, but if they hear Him, they will open the door to let Him inside. Jesus must be inside, not outside, He MUST be inside the heart. We can't point to knowledge, events, anything of this nature as the Laodiceans were doing. We must come to Jesus repenting of our sins and repent is exactly what Jesus has already admonished these people to do (vs 19)!
Repenting of sin is what we all must do, not just one time as some teach, but the Holy Spirit through His work in the sanctification process will reveal what is sin, then we must ask for forgiveness repenting of it and as the woman caught in the act of adultery, we must walk away and not do it any more (John 8:14). Jesus takes this even further in the next verse. I remember being on the radio a few years ago when the Spirit of God showed me this verse. I was so overwhelmed that I began to cry tears of joy and tears of sorrow. vs 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. The Bible is clear that Jesus never sinned, but we are given a clear understanding of what He endured when He was in the Wilderness, driven there by the Holy Spirit where He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Three times the devil came to Him and used three different scenarios to test Him. Jesus overcame by using a correctly exegeted and applied Bible in each and every situation. vs 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. What we believe must be from the Word of God and not from a man. What we believe must be from a correct understanding and application of the Word, not from some desire to have the heart feel good. If the preacher doesn't preach this type of Word from the pulpit, run from there but only after privately sitting down and asking him why he doesn't teach a hermeneutically correct doctrine for the church today. Find a church that will preach the truth on how to overcome as Jesus overcame. Find a church that will tell you the truth, that all sin is a cancer that will destroy a sound life if left alone to do so untreated by the blood of Jesus.
Jesus concludes the words to the seven churches with a statement that He makes many times. He makes this statement on seven occasions, Revelation 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:29, 3:6, 3:13, and 3:22. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. The Greek Syntax shows the verb structure to be in the imperative, a command; Tense-Aorist, Voice-Active, Mood -Imperative. The simple conclusion of the Lord's usage is clear, He is serious. Somehow the people who think themselves fine must take heed to this clear mandate for listening to Jesus. Rather than fall back into the feel good nature of some of our beliefs, we must allow them to be challenged, we must let God's Word settle the issue. Don't just point to some moment and say, "There, now I am saved, I am eternally secure!" Look at your heart, the attitudes, ask yourself how you see things, examine carefully to see if you wear Laodicean eye glasses or if Jesus sees things differently. Please, I beg of you, examine yourselves. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.