Revelation 3:15-16 (NKJV)

“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 

So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

This verse is used by those who believe that a believer can lose their salvation by demonstrating that Jesus despises those who are in an intermediate middle state of either serving Him or rejecting Him. In their view, if you were once hot and suddenly lost your warmth, you are in danger of losing your salvation.

Explanation

In addressing the Laodiciean church, the Lord revealed its  true spiritual state. Who were was blind to its own needs and unwilling to face the truth. 

There is also some interesting background on the Lacodicean city. The city had a limited water supply because the water traveled several miles through an underground aqueduct before it reached the city resulting in it arriving in a foul, dirty, and lukewarm condition. 

In comparison to the nearby cities it was not hot enough to relax & restore like the Hierapolis’ hot springs and neither was it cold and refreshing like the stream of water at Colossae. Laodicea’s lukewarm water was in a useless condition.

Using this background, Christ uses a metaphorical language using the water supply of Laodicea to rebuke the people for being neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm.

The general message here is not a temperature check for Christians, but rather a conditional warning to establish your position: either with God or against Him. Either you are hot (filled with spiritual zeal) or cold (openly rejecting Christ). 

A middle ground is not talking about a person who would at times say “I feel less of a Christian” or “I am doing enough for God.” The middle ground is a hypocrite or a false Christian that is professing to know Christ but not truly belonging to Him. 

Jesus used the illustration of vomiting such a lukewarm person as a warning for the self-deceived hypocrites in Laodicea. 

These hypocrites attend church and claim to know the Lord. However the Lord Jesus Christ described such people in Matthew 7:22–23: “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” 

The lukewarm are also likened to the unbelieving Jews for whom Paul lamented, “For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge” (Rom. 10:2). In other words, “they hold to a form of godliness, but deny its power” (2 Tim. 3:5). 

Christ is nauseated by such obnoxious hypocrisy. Evangelizing these prideful, self-righteous hypocrites is far more challenging than preaching to cold-hearted rejecters. The latter may at least be shown that they are lost. The problem is that self-righteous people who believe they’re saved often refuse to acknowledge their real condition because they are protective of their religious feelings.

Another key fact about the city of Laodicea was that it was financially well.

Revelation 3:17 (NKJV) 

Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 

Due to its strategic location, the city became an important commercial and banking center. 

Just for some perspective, in around AD 60, the city was hit with a devastating earthquake and it was able to pay for its entire reconstruction. They even rejected offers of financial aid from Rome. 

How does this relate to the passage? 

The wealth of its church gave its members a false sense of security. They assumed that since they were wealthy they were blessed but in reality they were only rich in spiritual pride but bankrupt with true saving grace and the understanding of the gospel.

People in this church deceived themselves into thinking they were spiritually blessed because of their wealth and in response to their inaccurate self-assessment, Christ rebuked them: 

Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing, and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.” (Rev 3:17)

In conclusion, the warning to the church in Laodicea is not about true believers losing their salvation but rather a rebuke to self-deceived hypocrites who live in a false sense of spiritual security. Christ’s call to be “hot or cold” is a challenge to confront the reality of one’s spiritual state—either truly devoted to God or outright rejecting Him. The metaphor of “lukewarmness” is directed at those who are comfortable in their superficial religious life, failing to realize their true spiritual poverty despite outward wealth and status. This passage serves as a clear reminder that genuine faith must go beyond complacency and material wealth, urging us to fully commit to God, who alone provides the true riches of grace.