“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’”
As Jesus is speaking to the church in Ephesus, he offers both an exhortation and a rebuke. This is a pattern we’ll see throughout the letters to the 7 churches in Asia, which the apostle John writes about in Revelation.
Notably, each letter begins with who Jesus is. In the letter to Ephesus, Jesus holds the 7 stars, which are the angels of the 7 churches, and he walks among the golden lampstands, which represent the 7 churches. Seven is the number of “completion” or “perfection” in Hebrew literature, which is why it’s mentioned so often in the Bible.
First, let’s take a look at what the church in Ephesus is doing right. They are working and toiling with patient endurance — not for their salvation, but out of the desire to please God and live a life of holiness. They’ve tested the spirits of prophets and found them to be false teachers. I think we as the American church could learn a lot from this. They “cannot bear with those are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not.” I think it’s worth noting that Jesus’ description of “those who are evil” is not aimed at the world at large but rather at people inside the church who were acting spiritual but who were proclaiming something other than gospel of Christ.
But in spite of this spirit of discernment, of all their toil and good works, Jesus said “I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.” Many noteworthy things here. The first thing I see is that abandoning our love for Christ is a sin that we must repent from. It’s not just forgetfulness; it’s not just being distracted; it’s actually a sin that Jesus calls us out of. Repentance is remembrance of who God is and what He has done; this act of remembering will lead us into deeper relationship with Him.
The second thing I see is the connection between faith and works. Jesus said they’ve abandoned the love they had at first; therefore repent and do the works you did at first. Works come out of a deep, abiding love for Christ. We work from our love for who Jesus is. That’s it. We’re not working to earn salvation, and we’re not working to keep it. That’s been done for us on the Cross. But faith does require works, which requires love.
Finally, Jesus says, “To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” This is why the whole Bible is important — from Genesis to Revelation the same story is told. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They disobeyed and brought sin into the world, and God had to drive them out of the Garden of Eden to prevent them from eating from the tree of life. But Jesus, who came to make all things new, offers us that very fruit. What a wonderful promise from the One who says:
“Fear not, I am the first and last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”