On Paul’s 2nd missionary journey (A.D. 51-53) after visiting the city of Corinth, he visited Ephesus and planted a church there (Acts 18:19). During his third missionary journey, Paul spent approximately 2-3 years (A. D. 54—56) at Ephesus addressing fallacious doctrines and pagan practices (Acts 19:8-10).
From Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (A.D. 60-62), “I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers” (Eph 1:15-16) to John giving the Lord’s assessment of the church at Ephesus over thirty years later (A.D. 94-96), “I have this against you, that you have left your first love” (Rev 2:4), both time periods reveal a telling spiritual shift in the church at Ephesus. It was in serious spiritual trouble over an issue concerning the absence of love (agape). The world is characterized by hatred and Christianity by love (agape). The absence of love within the church at Ephesus was a mischaracterization of Christianity to the public.
It could be debated what particular actions caused this spiritual migration, but as in the case of most spiritual issues, they are multiple. However, John pinpointed the instrumental or root cause of this spiritual problem at Ephesus; generally speaking, it is classified as sin, but more specifically, they had chosen to trade agape (love) for a cold, clinical orthodoxy, which proved to be their mortal weakness. The pressure point is seen in the Greek order of the words which could be translated, “Your first love you have left.” This is a direct violation of the first and great command, and it also has a negative impact on the second one.
Their doctrinal position was sound; their zeal was second to none; their discipline was admirable, but they had forsaken their first love (Mt 22:37-38), which is the life-blood flow for the appropriate response to the revelation of God to man, for example, the second command (Mt 22:39). In Rev 2:5, the Lord addresses through John second-generation believers, for the most part, that the Ephesian needed to remember, repent, and the first works do, which was a natural by-product of love (agape) for God (cf. first love, Rev 2:4; Jn 15:4), a love rooted in relationship rather than rules, a natural seeking of God rather than pursuing a list of to do things.
It is a loving relationship where surrender to God’s authority comes naturally, replacing structure as a way of earning His approval. The inescapable truth is that love and obedience are inseparable (Jn 14:21, 23, 24, 31; 15:10; 1 Jn 2:3-5; 4:19-20; 5:2-3) as life is to breathing. God knows our hearts, but our faith can only be seen to others by our fruits (cf. Jas 2:17-18).
It is a loving relationship where surrender to God’s authority comes naturally, replacing structure as a way of earning His approval. The inescapable truth is that love and obedience are inseparable (Jn 14:21, 23, 24, 31; 15:10; 1 Jn 2:3-5; 4:19-20; 5:2-3) as life is to breathing. God knows our hearts, but our faith can only be seen to others by our fruits (cf. Jas 2:17-18).
Sadly, the church of Ephesus disappeared from the scene during the second century from never thawing out. Perhaps that same coldness turned on each other? Its demise in history is indicative of not taking to heart the first and great command. Figuratively, they had, in short, became of no account, weight, value, or authority – “nothing” (Gk, oudeis, 1 Cor 13:2; cf. Jn 8:54; 1 Cor 7:19) even though they were going through the motions of right doctrine, lifestyle, and service.
It was said that “Christ wants believers’ hearts as well as their hands and heads” (BKC, 1984, p. 934). We all are aware of the problem of worshipping God with the lips but not from the heart (cf. Mt 15:8). I think we underestimate the consequences of such because they may not be immediate. We are not immune from becoming toxic to others by the absence of love (agape) in our life, the very thing the Ephesians became guilty of becoming, unlovely and unloving. Whenever any believer falls, the first to go is our love for God (mark it down) – “Remember therefore from where you have fallen” (Rev 2:4).
Loving God with the totality of our being is the prime directive of all of Scripture. When we fail in that regard, we no longer carry any weight, value, or authority. Love, the agape kind, is not some kind of subjective mushy emotionalism or objective cold intellectualism; to the contrary, it has standards that run very deep, emotionally and intellectually, and it can be quite sacrificial in nature (cf. Jn 3:16).
Ephesus serves as a warning to all of us that we cannot afford to live off the spirituality of the past, that we can fall even while holding fastidiously to a right theology, and that love (agape) is the life-blood in all that we do in worshipping, serving, defending, and advancing the cause of Christ. If we choose to ignore agape in our life (cf. Rom 5:5), we too, will disappear from the scene because “I am nothing” (1 Cor 13:2) is not helpful or contributory but destructive in nature (self-directed, spats, and splits).
While we may be considered self-righteous or unloving when speaking the truth in love (Eph 4:15), that is only a deflection by those confronted with the truth. We must never lose sight of truth and love; they go hand in hand, like husband and wife. Whenever we move from the sphere of love (agape), we become something inappropriate and unpleasing to God and unfitting as an ambassador of Christ. Metaphorically, we become a big fat goose egg or a zero for God.
Literally, without love or the wrong kind of love being substituted for agape, we become nothing, something of no value or importance, without weight or authority, useless, unhelpful, and potentially harmful. You might say that the exercise of agape (love) in our lives is a pretty big deal before God. <><
Without love (agape), there is no right theology.
