Sam's Biblical Insight, Exploring the Word, Faith, Theology, Doctrine, and Christian Life in the Spirit

1. The first Love (agapē)

The phrase “the love of you the first” recalls the church’s original ardent and vigorous love, the governing primacy in the church and ministry. It refers not merely to chronology, but to both the priority and the quality of love—agapē—defined by loving God with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving one’s neighbor as oneself (ref.Matthew 22:37-40).

This love (agapē) is rekindled only when a sinner is reconciled to God through Christ and renewed by the Holy Spirit; it is meant to grow as believers increasingly come to know the surpassing love of Christ, being filled unto the fullness of God (cf. Eph. 3:18–19). And Christ’s Church is to embody this love within and without.

This agapē is the living root and matrix of the church, from which all true worship, fellowship, charity, and evangelism flow.

This norm of agapē—the ‘all’ and the ‘as’—is the heartbeat Christ expects in His church, and it is precisely this that Ephesus abandoned.

2. The Organic Union of First Love and First Works

In the letter, “first love” (v. 4) and “first works” (v. 5) are organically related, like root and fruit. The abandonment of love inevitably corrupts the bearing of fruit. In the absence of this vital root, works risk devolving into lip service—a mechanical performance without heart that God abhors. Therefore, when Christ calls the Ephesian church to “remember, repent, and do the first works,” He is addressing the restoration of the entire spiritual ecosystem: both the “first love” itself and the concrete actions that naturally flow from it.

In this context, agapē functions as the matrix of the church—the primary undercurrent of the biblical narrative (1 John 4:8) and the intended governor of all activity. When the Ephesians allowed this reality to fade, their works—though faithful in form—lost their significance. This disorientation eroded the unity of the Spirit (Eph. 4:2) and disrupted their witness, ultimately bringing the church under the Lord’s judgment for misrepresenting His nature to the world.

Yet, absent from Christ’s letter is any detailed description of what those specific “first works” were. His language recalls their earlier state, implying an apostolic norm the original audience clearly understood. Consequently, later readers must look beyond this text—examining the record of the early church and the broader New Testament—to fully grasp the nature of the “first love” and the “first works” that sustained it.

3. The Works of Love: The Biblical Prototypes:

To recover the “first works,” we must look to the original models to which Jesus points: the first church in Jerusalem and the founding days of the Ephesian community itself.

It is worth noting that the church’s foundational functions as revealed in the New Testament—Worship, Fellowship, Charity, and Evangelism—were not novel inventions but ancient pillars inherited from the Old Covenant community. However, in the era of the Holy Spirit, these forms underwent a radical transformation. Moving beyond national and legalistic boundaries to the new reality of ‘My Church’ (Matt. 16:18), they were infused with the substance of agapē. This love transfigured ancient duties into the vibrant, spiritual heartbeat of the Body of Christ, now driven by an urgent eschatological mission.

• Worship

God declares His purpose for us in Scripture:

“The people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.” (Isaiah 43:21).

The Ephesian church had learned this very truth from Paul: that in Christ, they were appointed “to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:12 – 14).

The original meaning of worship (Hebrew and Greek) conveys bowing down in reverence—an expression of honor, adoration, praise, and thanksgiving. It is the central act of love and holy respect offered to God.

Jesus taught that true worship must be “in spirit and truth” (John 4:23–24). This united phrase means worship that engages both heart and mind (cf.Matt. 15:8)—grounded in faith in Christ, sincere in devotion, and consciously lived coram Deo (“before the face of God”), under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Worship is the sacred wellspring from which all church life flows. In worship, as the church stands before God, receives His grace and power, and is enabled to live in obedience, to please Him, and to proclaim His glory. For this reason, the church’s first love for God finds its fullest expression in worship in spirit and truth.

• Koinonia Fellowship, partnership, and sharing in common

The New Testament concept of koinonia refers to shared life, fellowship, and partnership in Christ. It finds a living pattern in the communal life of Jesus and His disciples, who stayed together, shared daily life, and remained with Him through His trials (cf. Luke 22:28-30).

This pattern comes to explicit expression in the first church in Jerusalem, where koinonia emerges as a defining mark of the new community in Christ. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, prayer, worship, and mutual care, sharing their lives and resources in genuine unity and love in the Gospel(Acts 2:42-47).

In Ephesians, Paul thematically describes many realities and practical expressions of koinonia: shared membership in the body of Christ (3:6); genuine, gracious interaction with one another(4:32; 5:21); and building up one another toward maturity in the fullness of Christ (4:11-16).

In essence, true koinonia is enjoying God together as those who share one Spirit in Christ.

• Charity: The Mercy in Action

Charity is love expressed in tangible care for widows, orphans, neighbors, foreigners among us, and all who are in need. This mercy lies at the very heart of God, who defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow and loves the sojourner by giving him food and clothing (Deut. 10:18; 24:17–22; Ps. 146:9).​

Scripture further defines true worship of God as caring for orphans and widows in their distress and keeping oneself unstained from the world (James 1:27), and repeatedly calls His people to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him (Mic. 6:8). Jesus calls His people to see and serve “the least of these,” for in serving them we serve Him, with eternal rewards (Matt. 25:35–40).​

In the early church, believers shared possessions so no one lacked (Acts 2:44–45; 4:32–35). Paul organized relief collections for the Jerusalem believers (2 Cor. ch. 8–9; Rom. 15:25–28; Acts 20:1–21; 21:15) and urged the Ephesians to work honestly to share with those in need, practicing kindness and forgiveness (Eph. 4:28, 32). Timothy received detailed instructions on care within God’s household—including widows (1 Tim. 5:3–16) and the wealthy, who must be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share (1 Tim. 6:17–19).

Charity is no option, but an essential mark of Christ’s church—for it reflects the very heart of God, is affirmed by Jesus, and was diligently practiced by the disciples and early church, including the Ephesians.

• Evangelism

Jesus came as the long‑promised Good News of God, first hinted at in the promise that the woman’s offspring would crush the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15). His earthly ministry displayed the power of the coming gospel mission, and He promised the “power from on high” so that His disciples would bear witness to Him to the ends of the earth (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8; Matt. 28:18–20).

From Pentecost onward, Christ’s church has been spiritually militant – born in the fire of the Spirit to stand against the powers of darkness, sent into the world of “wolves” under the banner of the victorious risen King (Acts 2:1–4, 41–47; Eph. 6:10–18). Jesus is the “stronger man” who overcomes and plunders the strong man’s possessions and destroys the works of the devil (Luke 11:21–22; 1 John 3:8). Just as Joshua led Israel to take possession of the land promised by God, so Christ now leads His church to advance the gospel into all the earth, conquering not by the sword but by the Word and power of the Holy Spirit, as people from every nation are brought into the kingdom of God (Matt. 24:14; Rev. 5:9–10).

The early churches, including the church in Ephesus, embodied this spiritual militancy in bold, persistent witness.

Just as the Jerusalem church had the office of evangelist (Acts 21:8), so did Ephesus have evangelists alongside pastors and teachers (Eph. 4:11; 2 Tim. 4:5). This community structure points to a self‑understanding as a people mobilized for a singular purpose: to obey the Great Commission of their King to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them until the end of the age (Matt. 28:18–20).

4. The Law of Restoration: Remember, Repent, and Do

This command is not a rebuke alone but a prescription for a cure. It functions like a dye vat for faded cloth: just as immersion restores color, returning to the “first works” restores love—not by emotion first, but by re-ordering life before God.

Jesus’ triad—remember, repent, and do—reveals a divine pattern of restoration consistent throughout Scripture. As illustrated in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15), renewal begins with remembering the original state in contrast to present decline, moves through decisive repentance, and culminates in concrete return. Love is rekindled not by reflection alone, but by obedient re-immersion in the works of love—the very practices that once governed life with God.

Notably, Christ addresses this command to the pastor (leader) in the singular. This reflects the established biblical pattern, where letters were addressed to a specific individual for the edification of the church (cf. 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and 3 John).

By employing three second-person singular imperatives, Jesus implies that just as spiritual decline began with leadership, so must recovery. Restoration of the church, therefore, begins with those entrusted to guard its love, order, and witness—bearing the grave responsibility that James warned of:

“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” (James 3:1)

5. It is a Battle

Jesus concludes His message with a solemn summons:

“To the one who conquers…” (Rev. 2:7)

This single word—conquer (νικάω) – a military term, signals that restoring first love is not automatic. It is a spiritual battle. It demands vigilance, perseverance, and faithful resistance. This conquest is not won by intellectual argument or sheer moral resolve. It is a contest waged in the unseen realm, where the enemy’s goal is not necessarily to stop our activity, but to erode our love.

• A Subtle and Persistent Enemy:

We face the same deceiver who cooled the love of the Ephesian church. Rarely does he attack openly. Instead, he works subtly to create an imbalance, where zeal for duty displaces love from the throne. In this trap, labor continues, and orthodoxy remains, yet the heart grows cold—and the witness of Christ is compromised. For this reason, Jesus calls His church not merely to endure, but to conquer.

• Strength Beyond Ourselves:

We cannot preserve this agapē—this self-giving, divine love—by human resolve alone. Left to itself, devotion cools, and vigilance hardens. Love must be continually fueled by divine grace. This explains why Paul, writing earlier to this very church, issued a decisive warning:

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” (Eph. 6:11)

The call to conquer is inseparable from dependence on God. We must live clothed in divine armor, anchored in continual communion with Christ through prayer in the Spirit.

6. The Final Sanction: Removal of Lampstand or Tree of Life

Removal of the Lampstand:

Jesus frames His command with both warning and promise. Refusal to return results in the removal of the lampstand (Rev. 2:5)—a corporate judgment concerning the church’s standing as Christ’s witness.

To lose the lampstand does not mean losing a building, activity, or program. It means losing the presence, the approval, and the light of Christ. A church may still be busy, active with works of vigilance as Ephesians was, but once the lampstand is removed, it is no longer His church.

• The Blessed Assurance

Jesus ends the letter with a blessed promise:

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 of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” (Revelation 2:7)

Both the context and the language indicate that Jesus is giving the assurance of eternal life and blessed fellowship with God in Paradise (cf. 2 Peter 1:11). The phrase “to the one who conquers” refers first to the recipient (the messenger) of the Ephesian church, but extends to every messenger and individual member who heeds the call of the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion — The Church Christ Approves

Scripture is clear that love is not optional or secondary. In Revelation 2:4, “first love” (agapē) is the governing primacy—love for God and neighbor, organically united with the works of love, holding first place in the life, worship, and ministry of the church.

The issue in Ephesus, therefore, was not the works of vigilance themselves, but vigilance detached from love. When Christ’s church allows fervor for works of vigilance—however zealous—to displace first love, it no longer walks in the “excellent way.” As Paul warns, all works of faith, without love, amount to nothing before God (1 Corinthians 12–13) and risk the loss of Christ’s approval unless the church heeds the call of the Holy Spirit to conquer and return to works shaped by agapē.

Behind the abandonment of first love lies the persistent work of the devil. Restoration, therefore, is a spiritual battle that must be conquered, requiring spiritual discernment and continual dependence on divine grace. It demands a radical determination to return “to the dye-vat,” as the prodigal son did—back to the source of life, love, and fellowship.

Thus Christ calls His church to the triadic path of restoration: remember, repent, and do. However, in Revelation 2:7, He explicitly uses the verb νικάω (“to conquer” or “to overcome”), indicating that the return to first love is not passive or automatic, but requires faithful perseverance against spiritual opposition.

The stakes are decisive. To refuse Christ’s call is to risk the removal of the lampstand—the loss of His presence, approval, and living witness. To heed His voice is to receive the promise of blessed life in fellowship with God in the Paradise.

This message is addressed first to pastors, teachers, and church leaders, and through them to the entire congregation. Those entrusted with oversight bear a solemn responsibility, for the spiritual direction of the church often rises or falls with what its leaders place first. Scripture bears consistent witness to this reality: through one man came the fall of humanity, and through one Man came redemption (Romans 5:12–19). In the same way, the history of Israel demonstrates that the faithfulness—or unfaithfulness—of its leaders repeatedly shaped the spiritual condition of the people. Therefore, restoration must be initiated by the “messenger”—the leadership of Christ’s church—who are the first recipients of the Lord’s letter.

The church Christ approves does not choose between the works of vigilance and the first love, but holds both together. It guards truth faithfully and labors diligently—yet always with agapē remaining a priori, governing its worship, its works, and its witness.

Sola Scriptura! Sola Fide! Sola Gratia!

Solus Christus! Soli Deo Gloria! Per Spiritum Sanctum!