It is good to maintain doctrinal purity in the church.
It’s not only good — it’s the reason the church exists (1 Tim. 3:15) and is our calling and responsibility (2 Tim. 1:13ff).
But there is no benefit to maintaining a doctrinal purity and clarity without devotion; nor is their benefit in keeping devotion without theological precision. In the first instance, unbelieving Pharisees are cultivated — people who know the truth but whose hearts are far from God (remember that there is a large chasm between knowing and believing — salvation only comes to those who trust in Christ). In the second instance, unbelieving devotees are cultivated — people who love the idea of loving God, but who have no genuine faith because the object of their affection is incorrect.
So what happens to those who have a love for maintaining truth, but have no love for the object and author of that truth — God Himself? How does a church become like the Ephesian church — active and loveless (Rev. 2:4)?
Christ tells us what happened in Ephesus — He just doesn’t tell us how the church ended up in that state of spiritual destitution. Other passages indicate how individuals might end up in this position. It comes from competing loves:
- love of money (1 Tim. 6:10)
- love of the world (1 Jn. 2:15; 2 Tim. 4:10)
- love of loved ones (Mt. 10:37)
- love of idols (1 Jn. 5:21)
Or maybe it was just plain sinful pride.
Just as the Ephesian church was commanded to repent of their lovelessness, so Israel was warned about become loveless. Just prior to entering the land, Moses reminded the Israelites of the work of God to bring them out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and to the Promised Land.
- “You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.” (Dt. 8:2)
- “Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Dt. 8:11-14)
- “In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’” (Dt. 8:16-17)
- “But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” (Dt. 8:18)
The temptation for the Israelites was to believe that they had accomplished all the works which in fact God had accomplished. The temptation was to become proud and arrogant. The temptation was to believe that they were sovereign, that they were masters of their fate, that God was beholden to serve them and pour our His grace on them for their good actions on His behalf.
We don’t know whether that happened in Ephesus (it did in Israel on several occasions), but it certainly is a possibility. The church could readily fall into the trap of thinking, “we are doctrinally pure, we have persevered when other churches have folded; we have not caved in to the cultural pressures, we have kept God’s word and God’s church free from evil and sin — how God must favor us with His goodness…” This is the very kind of attitude that exudes lovelessness of God even while serving God.
It was the real end of the Ephesian church and it is the real temptation of every church and every individual.
Beware of work for God without love for God.
Words of Grace 