Love First Love: Remember, Repent, Do / Ephesians 6:21-24 / Revelation 2:1-7
The Trajectory of the Ephesian Church
Among the early Christian communities recorded in the New Testament, none possesses a richer or more extensive textual history than the church at Ephesus. First introduced in the Book of Acts, Ephesus served as a strategic epicenter for the Apostle Paul’s missionary endeavors. His extended ministry there witnessed extraordinary spiritual awakening, evidenced by the public burning of occult scrolls and the disruption of local idol manufacturing dedicated to the goddess Artemis. The gospel took root so deeply that the entire province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.
Acts 19:10 (NASB)
This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
Yet the story of Ephesus does not conclude with the triumphs recorded in Acts. The narrative unfolds across decades through Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians, the pastoral letters to Timothy, and ultimately the apocalyptic assessment delivered by the glorified Christ in the Book of Revelation. When examined chronologically, the Ephesian correspondence reveals a sobering spiritual trajectory: a church founded on the height and depth of divine love, subsequently fortified with sound doctrine, and ultimately indicted for abandoning the very love that gave birth to its existence.
Rooted and Grounded in Divine Love
Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians presents a magnificent theological architecture divided neatly into two halves: the sovereign work of God in the believer and the resulting conduct of God through the believer. In both movements, the pervasive theme is the love of God. In the opening chapters, Paul anchors human redemption in the eternal, loving purpose of the Father, who predestined believers for adoption and made them alive together with Christ solely because of His rich mercy and great love.
Ephesians 1:4-5 (NASB)
just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
Ephesians 2:4-5 (NASB)
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Paul’s apostolic prayer for the Ephesians reaches its crescendo in chapter three, where he asks that they, being firmly rooted and grounded in love, might possess the spiritual capacity to comprehend the vast dimensions of the love of Christ which surpasses human knowledge.
Ephesians 3:17-19 (NASB)
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; [and] that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
Turning from doctrine to application in the final three chapters, Paul demonstrates how divine love must govern daily life. Believers are commanded to walk in a manner worthy of their calling, bearing with one another in love, speaking the truth in love, and walking in sacrificial love after the pattern of Christ. After outlining the spiritual armor required to withstand unseen warfare, Paul closes the epistle with a benediction reserved for those who love the Lord Jesus Christ with an incorruptible love.
Ephesians 4:1-2 (NASB)
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,
Ephesians 5:1-2 (NASB)
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
Ephesians 6:23-24 (NASB)
Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible [love].
Across twenty explicit references, Paul establishes love as the non-negotiable origin, atmosphere, and aim of Christian existence.
The Shift toward Doctrinal Fortification
As the Ephesian church matured, external cultural pressures and internal theological distortions necessitated a season of vigorous doctrinal defense. Entrusting the oversight of the Ephesian flock to his young protégé Timothy, Paul shifted the immediate pastoral emphasis toward doctrinal fidelity, public exposition of Scripture, and the refutation of heresy.
1 Timothy 1:3 (NASB)
As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines,
In his first letter to Timothy, Paul repeatedly emphasizes the primacy of sound doctrine, instructing the pastor to devote himself to the public reading of Scripture, exhortation, and teaching, guarding both himself and his instruction with unrelenting diligence.
[SCRIPTURE: 1 Timothy 4:13, 16]
This call for theological precision intensifies in Paul’s final letter. Timothy is charged to handle accurately the word of truth and to remain anchored in the divinely inspired Scriptures, which alone are sufficient to equip the servant of God for every good work.
2 Timothy 2:15 (NASB)
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NASB)
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
Foreseeing an era when people would reject sound teaching in favor of teachers who cater to their fleshly desires, Paul’s parting imperative is resolute: preach the word in season and out of season with great patience and instruction.
2 Timothy 4:2-4 (NASB)
preach the word; be ready in season [and] out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but [wanting] to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
The believers at Ephesus took this charge to heart, establishing themselves as rigorous guardians of apostolic truth.
The Divine Indictment: Orthodoxy Without Affection
Approximately four decades after the church’s founding, the Apostle John—who himself pastored in Ephesus—recorded the definitive heavenly evaluation of the congregation. Walking among the golden lampstands, the exalted Christ delivered His assessment to the Ephesian messenger.
From a human vantage point, the Ephesian church appeared exemplary. They possessed endurance, bore up under immense burdens without growing weary, refused to tolerate evil, and rigorously tested and exposed false apostles. They had successfully built the theological defenses Paul demanded.
Revelation 2:1-3 (NASB)
’To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: ’I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them [to be] false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.
Yet beneath the veneer of flawless orthodoxy and tireless labor, a fatal spiritual decay had taken place. Christ issued a devastating indictment: they had abandoned their first love.
Revelation 2:4 (NASB)
’But I have [this] against you, that you have left your first love.
The Greek term for “abandoned” conveys a deliberate departure rather than a passive drifting. While preserving doctrinal purity, the Ephesian believers had severed truth from its living spring: ardent affection for Jesus Christ and genuine love for one another. The vital furnace of devotion had cooled into cold, mechanical duty. They had maintained the form of sound doctrine while losing the singular passion that originally animated their faith.
The Threefold Prescription: Remember, Repent, and Do
Christ does not leave the fallen church without a remedy. In a succinct and urgent imperative, the Lord provides a threefold pathway for spiritual restoration: remember, repent, and do.
Revelation 2:5 (NASB)
’Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place– unless you repent.
First, the church is commanded to remember the height from which it has fallen. This requires an ongoing, deliberate recollection of the early days of faith—the vitality of initial communion with Christ, the wonder of redemption, and the spontaneous joy of serving God and others.
Second, the church must repent. Remembering without repentance produces mere nostalgia. Biblical repentance demands a decisive change of mind, heart, and direction. It requires acknowledging that loveless orthodoxy is not a minor oversight, but a grievous spiritual failure.
Third, the church must do the first works. True repentance manifests in action. Believers are called to return to the foundational practices that marked their initial love: intimate prayer, reverent immersion in Scripture, sacrificial evangelism, transparent fellowship, and joyful obedience. Devotion to Christ cannot remain an abstract sentiment; it must embody itself in the tangible rhythms of daily life.
The urgency of this command is underscored by a severe warning: if the church refuses to repent, Christ will come and remove its lampstand from its place. A church without love ceases to reflect the glory of God and forfeits its divine mandate. It may retain its institutional structures, financial resources, and doctrinal statements, but it loses the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
The Peril of the Professionalized Christian
The trajectory of the Ephesian church serves as a timeless diagnostic for the contemporary church. It is entirely possible to excel in biblical literacy, theological defense, and external ministry activity while simultaneously harboring a cold and distant heart. When devotional life becomes perfunctory, prayer degenerates into ritual, and evangelism is abandoned for comfortable routine, the symptoms of Ephesian decay are present.
Doctrinal accuracy and passionate devotion were never meant to be mutually exclusive. God does not call His people to choose between the defense of truth and the pursuit of love. Sound doctrine is designed to fuel genuine worship, and genuine love is bounded and guided by eternal truth. The sobering lesson of Ephesus is that doctrine without devotion leads to spiritual death, while love rooted in Christ leads to life incorruptible.