This is a text reader for the article below: Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

 

Sunday 8/02/26

Title: The Work of Love

Click for Message Video

Message Audio Player:

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:44:54 — 60.6MB)

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS

***Video is HERE***

The Work of Love

Last week we closed with the three steps of obedience Jesus gave to the Ephesian church. This week as we wrap up this Ephesian letter, we are going to bear down on the fact that Jesus referred to loving Him with all their heart, as a WORK.

“I know your works”

• “Remember”
• “Repent”
• “Do the WORKS you did at the first”

By which Jesus was calling agape love a work!

These Ephesian believers were keeping the law – all of it, but the most important command. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength”.

Jesus, when asked about the most important commandment, pointed to this one, followed by a synopsis of the last 6 commands which are those which pertain to our relationships with our fellow man. 

In fact, Jesus’ reply regarding the second commandment is a quote from Leviticus 19:18, which is NOT part of the 10 commandments, but is a summary of the last 6 commands – even as “Love the Lord your God” is honestly a summary of the 2nd through the fourth commandment.

But, Jesus called this a ‘work’ and unfortunately this word is a modern church ‘trigger word’. 

We have many trigger words in greater society today and nearly every one of them is rooted in a distorted and bloated opinion of one’s own importance. 

The same is true here regarding the word ‘work’ in the eyes of many in the modern church. 

It is a word which has received a lot of bad press. 

And while I cannot speak with absolute authority regarding all cases, as no one but God can, my experience with those who have a problem with this word fall into one of three categories with a fair amount of bleed over from one category to the next. 

• Church Hurt – Those immature but genuine Christians who have experienced church hurt at least by their own definition and admission. And the church hurt on a specifically talking about which I believe is also the most prevalently complained about is church hurt that deals with a feeling of guilt in condemnation over ongoing sin. Maybe this was taught in a legalistic manner. Maybe it was the pastor’s favorite topic and was therefore the spearhead of most of his messages. It may have been in a greater environment of the church which bred a “use the Bible as weapon against your brother” to judge them and encourage a sense of guilt and condemnation. 
• Immaturity – Another group that is very much like this one at least in perception is those who claim that they worked diligently to get rid of sin in their life but never seemed able to do it and so every time the preacher mentioned sin it seemed like it was only ever talked about and they felt condemned. 
• Legalistic grace – Those who due to bad teaching association with biblical exegesis, have found themselves pushing back so hard against the overwhelming cultural belief that if my good deeds outweigh my bad Deeds I’ll make it to Heaven – focus upon salvation by grace through faith becomes so myopic that either don’t see or find convenient ways around any passage in the New Testament that suggests that works are in fact important in accompanying genuine salvation. 

One common denominator:

They are protecting something! And that is a horrible deadly environment in which to view and study scripture.

Overwhelmingly my exposure has been to the first two groups. Furthermore, it is my solid contention that the greatest number of those who claim to come from ‘church hurt’ actually come from group two – immaturity. 

I do not say that lightly. It comes from conversations with those I’ve met who would talk about it and engage in conversation. 

I again admit to this being a limited group from my own experiences and therefore is not a valid finger on the pulse of all those who claim to be I group one, across the Christian world. I also am not saying it derisively. 

I know from experiences in my own life where I perceived rejection, judgment, belittling and devaluing and discovered later that such thoughts were never in the mind of the person. There is a profound difference between something you “feel” is true and something that IS true. However, to the one convinced of its truth, there IS no difference in their experience of it. 

It is still processed like abuse! 

My overarching point here is simply this – none of these are valid excuses for rejecting the necessity of “works” or “fruit” accompanying salvation. 

The one thing I will say about most of these people is that at least on the surface, they have not forsaken Christ. But their desire to hold on to Christ while at the same time not wanting to wrestle with their conscience has opened the door to false doctrines which will accommodate a feeling of closeness to God and safety in His kingdom while at the same time maintaining, and in some cases even increasing, their indulgence in sin. 

And these all of these categories can only be supported due to absolutely juvenile understandings of the concepts of Mercy and Grace. 

As such these misunderstandings of mercy &  grace are actively lowering the bar regarding sound doctrine in the modern church, encouraging it to become more and more in line with the ancient doctrine of the Nicolaitans. And that is the very next thing Jesus brings up to these Ephesians is the teachings of Nicolaitans. 

Consider the positive framing of the word “works” in these following passages. 

How this word “Works” are addressed throughout the New Testament

And know that for certain these passages are employing the exact same Greek word for “Works” that is used of Jesus to this church in Ephesus. 

• Romans 2:6 – “He will render to each one according to his works” 
• Ephesians 2:8-10 – “(8) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,  (9)  not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  (10)  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus FOR GOOD WORKS, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
• Titus 1:16 – “They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.” 
• 1 Peter 1:14-17 – “(14) As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,  (15)  but as He Who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,  (16)  since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy. (17)  And if you call on Him as Father Who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, (18) knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, (19) but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”  

So Jesus tells them plainly, the cost of continued indifference and disobedience. That is, the cost of not producing the ‘work’ or “fruit” out of their union with Jesus… In this case the “fruit” or “work” is agape love for Him. 

Revelation 2:5-6,

“If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. (6)  Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” 

So loving God, as in passionate agape love, is a non-negotiable in Christ as a church and in the end, really not as an individual either.

So I am encouraging you to follow the personal example I offered toward the end of last week’s message – amending your list so that it is more personalized to your character and specific issues, but do it!

Ths is a VERY serious issue!

The teachings of the Nicolaitans

Jesus presses the need for devotion to sound doctrine and kingdom work, but only as produced out of our devoted passion for Him in spending ourselves on Him sacrificially a.k.a. – agape. 

Now regarding that doctrine of the Nicolaitans.

Both biblical and extra-biblical sources offer descriptions of their doctrine which include the following:

• Antinomianism: it is a distortion of the clear teaching of God’s grace in Christ. It argues that believers are freed from the moral constraints of God’s Law and could therefore indulge in the desires of the flesh without consequence. 
  • Today a more popular adaptation of this belief is not that people are free from most of the moral constraints of the law, but that so far as personal consequences for living immorally go, there really aren’t  any. There are so many in this group who believe that if a person lives indulgently in immorality they never knew Jesus to begin with. On paper they claim that they believe that the grace of God which saves also motivates a person to not sin. In practice however, again within the sphere of my personal experience, a great deal of these people live rather habitually what most people would consider light sins. The one which speaks the strongest as a testimony against them is casual cursing. 
• Pagan Syncretism: They taught that Christians could maintain and even foster their former ties to the surrounding culture without compromising their faith -including involving themselves in pagan celebrations.
  • This is common enough across virtually all mainstream denominations in first world countries. The arguments are predictably weak, including such things as:
    • You can’t win a culture while living a life of morally Superiority and separation from the world, 
    • Sure it’s true that some of their celebrations are pagan in origin but since I’m in Christ that won’t affect me and it enables me to be around them as a light. 
    • Nothing in the Bible says I can’t have non-Christian friends. 
    • If I don’t watch the same TV shows and movies as my co-workers, I won’t be able to connect with those at work. It will single me out as a “goody two shoes” or morally self-righteous and make my testimony unheard. 
• Idolatry and Immorality: They even went so far as to actually encourage the eating of food sacrificed to idols and participation in the type of sexual immorality which was often associated with pagan temple rituals. Again the modern world has far more subtle expressions of sins against Christian sexuality and the eating of foods offered to Idols, is virtually non-existent in open display in most places today within first world countries. 
  • The most common expression of sexual sin among Christians premiereable sex, entertainment which presents living together outside of wedlock as normal and celebrated, various forms of pornography, provocative dressing, women who are boisterous and flirtatious, living outside of wedlock and those who divorce a fellow Christian and then remarry. 

In other words, the teaching and beliefs of the Nicolaitans was that their spirits were saved so their bodies were free to indulge in the appetites of the flesh unscathed and with eternal security intact. 

Though certainly a more raw and blatant form than the modern “grace movement” distortion of the gospel, it shares much in common. They both are very antithetical to works. 

Now every true Christian, who is grounded in sound doctrine are against “works” as a MEANS of rightstanding, justification and possessing the Holy Spirit, but that works CANNOT be missing in a believer’s life entirely (at least not for a protracted period of time) without it deciding against their possessing of faith at all is somewhat of a debated topic and peripheral view. 

The problem is that the scriptures treat these topics as anything but debatable and peripheral. 

Luke 19 makes this clear – the servant who produced NOTHING was cast out into outer darkness, being labeled by Jesus as a servant who was wicked both in action and in influence. And the teachings of the Nicolaitans produce just that sort of person.

Jesus goes on record as HATING this deception!

He then says,

“(7)  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Let the one who still possesses any spiritual sensitivity to God’s voice respond Today – “while it is called today” as the writer or Hebrews tells us, “lest you be further hardened through the deceitfulness of sin”.

Life is the promise

This was then followed by a promise. 

“To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’”

This promise points back to an intimate relationship with God. 

In other words, this promise would only hold value to one who still had “ears to hear”. Whose willful neglect had not taken them too far.

Remember if you will, that conquering or overcoming is directly tied to our faith. 

1 Jn. 5 “… and this is the victory that overcomes the world even our faith”

Lovingly devoted relationships! Knowing that true intimacy and trust, produces the victory of overcoming. But again, the first and primary focus is LOVE FIRST. 

The outstanding statement regarding keeping all the Commandments of GOD which Jesus made is that “the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your might with all your strength and the second commandment is just like it and that is to love your neighbor as YOURSELF… AND that if you do these things you will find yourself fulfilling the whole LAW”. [paraphrase]

So just like Paul said in Corinthians. In the end, there remains faith, hope and love but the greatest of these is love. 

Now, I do not pretend to understand all this passage means, but I DO understand what it is a remedy for and it’s one that the Ephesians and people like them truly need. It is found in 1 Jn. 5:16-17, 

“(16) If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that.  (17)  All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.”

The word often translated as “leading to” is more accurately “resulting in”. 

With the accusative marking the object toward or to which something moves or is directed. 

Here it is used figuratively denoting the direction, reference, or relation which one object has toward or to another. In this case sin that results in death. 

Thus, this word “resulting in” is marking the end result, including the aim or purpose of an action, followed by the accusative – meaning for what, why, to what end, for what purpose. 

Of a tendency and result (2 Peter 3:16; 1 Jn. 5:16-17). 

“(14) Therefore, dear friends, since you are waiting for these things, strive to be found at peace, without spot or blemish, when you come into his presence. (15)  And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our dear brother Paul wrote to you, according to the wisdom given to him, (16)  speaking of these things in all his letters. Some things in these letters are hard to understand, things the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they also do to the rest of the scriptures. (17)  Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard that you do not get led astray by the error of these unprincipled men and fall from your firm grasp on the truth. (18) But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the honor both now and on that eternal day.”

What this seems to me from a linguistic standpoint alone is that there is sin, the intention of which is to distance oneself from Christ. This is the sin of apostasy, though it may softly include those callous sins of indifference leading to this final end. 

What is the lesson then? 

Pursuit Christ. Do things on purpose to maintain stir and encourage in a forward direction self-Sacrificial love and Devotion to Him. Do things that encourage reverence and difference and respect and fear of God. 

Establish routines and patterns in your life safeguard you from drifting into indifference. I’m not encouraging legalism, I’m encouraging the habits which are part of our physical and psychological existence which God placed there by Design. It can work for or against a person but it is always working. 

They say that to break an old habit and establish a new one it takes focused, deliberate and repeated opposite or replacement activities for two and a half weeks. At that point a new pattern begins to emerge and your body and mind begin to expect and get used to this pattern, becoming more comfortable with it and dependent upon it. At very loose this minute that if the pattern stopped it would be missed. 

This isn’t legalism, this is using and taking advantage of something God baked into our design for the purpose of honoring and respecting Him. 

Now if your mind is so distorted, that you can turn even that into a work then I can’t help you and neither can scripture. 

The sun with a scorching heat which is to say the difficulty and oppression associated with growth in Christ. 

Same with the thorns and thistles which represented the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering into the heart having the effect of choking out God’s Word so that it produces zero impact towards “fruit” or “works”.