At the end of Acts 6:5 we find Nicolas who was a pagan, became a Jew and then became a Christian. Whether fair or unjustified, this Nicolas is credited with a practice which led to a following, which was found in the Revelation 2 warnings.

Would the practices of 2 Peter 1:2-9 have prevented that sequence of errors?

My answer to that would be yes and only for one reason. It occurs in verse 2 Peter 1:9 and reads this way; cannot see afar off. The warning being that if we neglect our growth in Christ according to Peter’s encouragement, we will lack the long range vision of consequences.

Now I can see how and why Nicolas was chosen. He met the initial requirements for the task at hand. He met a need, he served tables while the apostles attended to weightier matters.

Acts 6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

Given that this service for Nicolas had time restraints, what happened to Nicolas when that service ended? It is possible that he sought out his pagan roots to bring the light of the gospel to people who he understood and could relate to in ministry. Was the timing of his actions such as so he did not get the instructions given others in Acts 15:28-29 “For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.”

It is also likely that Nicolas’ ministry might have missed Paul’s warning in 1 Corinthians 8:9-11 “But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?”

2 Peter 1:2-9 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

How I came to these verses was by searching out an understanding as to the Nicolaitans of Revelations 2. A stern warning is always best to be understood properly, so as not to fall to the same fate. What I discovered rather surprised me as to the source.

Acts 6:3,5 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. 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:

Here at the end of Acts 6:5 we find Nicolas who was a pagan, became a Jew and then became a Christian. Whether fair or unjustified, this Nicolas is credited with a practice which led to a following, which was found in those Revelation 2 warnings.

Would the practices of 2 Peter 1:2-9 have prevented that sequence of errors?