In the beginning of the book of Revelation Christ sends letters to each of the seven churches via the specific angel assigned to that church. In each letter there is a similar outline; what they are doing right what they are doing wrong what corrections and rewards are applicable and so on.
Love
In the very
first letter to the church at Ephesus they are commended for their discernment
regarding false teachers,
2:2 I know your deeds,
your labor, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate those who
are evil, and you have tested and exposed as liars those who falsely claim to
be apostles.
yet the
correction for them is severe because they have not done this in love or they
have lost the love they had for the Lord that they had when they started.
2:4 But I have this against you: You have abandoned your
first love. 5 Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and
perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to
you and remove your lampstand from its place.
Removing the
light from them is arguably the most severe consequence of any of the seven
churches, yet what they were doing was right and righteous.
Vernacular:
Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons.
6 But you
have this to your credit: You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also
hate.
God wants us
to hate what He hates. God wants us to love as He loves.
How do we remedy
this? Rev 2:5. Therefore; keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and
perform the deeds you did at first.
Vernacular:
Go back to the beginning. Love God with all your heart and do unto others as you
would have others do unto you.
Tolerance
In the
fourth letter the script is flipped;
19 I know your deeds—your love, your faith, your service,
your perseverance—and your latter deeds are greater than your first.
20 But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman
Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My
servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 Even
though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.
22 Behold, I will cast her onto a bed of sickness, and those
who commit adultery with her will suffer great tribulation unless they repent
of her deeds.
23 Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches
will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay
each of you according to your deeds.
Vernacular:
Doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.
When we
think of loving our neighbor we can easily have a worldly view of love, where
we can be lulled into tolerating things God hates. God’s love does not embrace
evil.
1
Corinthians 13:6 Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth.
Read also
Ephesians chapter 4 where “speaking the truth in love” is famously exhorted.
Vernacular: Hate
the sin. Love the sinner.
