What does Scripture mean with the term "Lukewarm"?

[GoldenEagle]

What does Scripture mean with the term "Lukewarm"?

Rev 3:14-22

To the Church in Laodicea

¹⁴ “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

¹⁵ “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. ¹⁹ Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. ²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. ²¹ The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²² He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

 

God bless,

GE

PS - Hint on my view: Matt. 7:15-27

[Willa]

God would rather have us be enthusiastic, fully committed, zealous, sold out Christians or else be a non Christian. Being a Christmas and Easter Christian, or an indifferant pew warmer who never applies the message or God' Word to ourselves, so that we never grow, is intollerable to God. Unfortunately, this is where the polls say that most people are who claim to be Christians in the USA.

[Elhanan]

What does Scripture mean with the term "Lukewarm"?

Rev 3:14-22

To the Church in Laodicea

¹⁴ “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

¹⁵ “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. ¹⁹ Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. ²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. ²¹ The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²² He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

 

God bless,

 

GE

PS - Hint on my view: Matt. 7:15-27

Although you did not elucidate, I would tend to agree. It is a warning to the church (believers) who do not have an accurate apprehension of their own spiritual state.  My take on hot, lukewarm and cold is that it lists 3 states of relationship to God of which being lukewarm is the most dangerous of all - hence the warning of being spit out.  Being hot signifies an ongoing, vibrant and obedient relationship with God - the phrase "on fire for the Lord" comes to mind. At the opposite end, cold signifies a dead relationship with God - no life.  Being lukewarm lies between hot and cold so normally one would think that being lukewarm is better than being cold. However the warning is specifically against those who are lukewarm. Why is that so? I think the answer is that those who are cold know that they have hardened hearts and are in an estranged relationship with God.  They realize that in order to get back into a right-standing relationship with God, some soul searching and repentance may be required. On the other hand those who are lukewarm are double minded and have no accurate understanding of their spiritual temperature. They presume that they are saved when in fact they may no longer be saved. They are oblivious to the lurking danger of being spit out from the Lord's mouth. They are akin to the frog in the kettle who is able to adjust his body temperature to the gradually warming water in the kettle as it heats up.  The frog is able to adapt to this environment by regulating his core temperature but as he does so he eventually becomes boiled alive.  In the same way lukewarm Christians don't realize the danger they are in. Like the frog, they are able to accommodate and tolerate sin in their lives. Verse 17 indicates that they may be materially rich but spiritually bankrupt.  The danger of being lukewarm is that they need to repent but unlike those who are cold, they don't even realize their need for repentance. Verse 20 is addressed to believers who need to repent but this verse is often taken out of context and used to evangelize unbelievers.

[missmuffet]

Revelation 3:14-21describes the lukewarm Christian as neither cold nor hot in relation to God.

Matthew7:16-17You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

Truly the deeds of the Laodiceans in Revelation were not in keeping with true salvation because the deeds of the true believer will be "hot".

The lukewarm are those who claim to know God but live as though He doesn't exist.

[Bible_Gazer]

Hot - would be those who became overcomers.

 

Lukewarm - must be the self-righteous.- saying I'm rich, but Jesus said they were poor

 

Cold - could be the weaker Christian yet still striving at that  point when this was written and not being lost.

[Hall7]

There are Lukewarm churches... To my understanding it basically means that the Holy spirit isn't present or not manifested in ones life/church.

[other one]

What does Scripture mean with the term "Lukewarm"?

Rev 3:14-22

 

 

God bless,

GE

to me I would say "complacent".

[GoldenEagle]

Excellent thoughts by everyone. Perhaps this passage is not so misunderstood as I thought.

May I ask where does the passage refer to those who are "cold" in a negative manner?

Cold water is of value. It satisfies thirst. It refreshes a person. Hot water is of value too. It has medicinal and purifying uses.

 

Food for thought.

God bless,

GE

[missmuffet]

Excellent thoughts by everyone. Perhaps this passage is not so misunderstood as I thought.

May I ask where does the passage refer to those who are "cold" in a negative manner?

Cold water is of value. It satisfies thirst. It refreshes a person. Hot water is of value too. It has medicinal and purifying uses.

 

Food for thought.

God bless,

GE

I think people who are cold are outright denying Christ.

[GoldenEagle]

God would rather have us be enthusiastic, fully committed, zealous, sold out Christians or else be a non Christian. Being a Christmas and Easter Christian, or an indifferant pew warmer who never applies the message or God' Word to ourselves, so that we never grow, is intollerable to God. Unfortunately, this is where the polls say that most people are who claim to be Christians in the USA.

 

I would agree that God wants us enthusiastic and fully committed to Him. I think the passage regarding lukewarm people has to do with those Christians who think they're good with God (the Christmas and Easter Christians) but really rely on their own strength prosperity - not realizing their daily need for God and counting on Him for salvation/sanctification. People who think they're mature Believers but really are judgmental, unloving, ungracious, gossips, focusing on the speck in others eyes but ignoring the boulders in their own.