In Ephesians, you explained that the church "lost their first love" by not serving Christ by their deeds, but in your Revelation study, you said the church left their first love by trading the Gospel for social works. Please explain these differences in your teaching.
Our teaching in these two books is consistent.
In Revelation, we taught that the essential mistake of the church in Ephesus was abandoning the message of the Gospel even as they set out to serve in the city of Ephesus. The church was not seeking for the glory of Christ or His word but was simply accomplishing works in their own power for their own glory. Consequently, their deeds moved away from the mission of the church as their hearts drifted away from their first love. The church in Ephesus was “busy,” but their efforts were not directed by the Spirit nor in keeping with Christ’s will. In that sense, they left their first love of serving Christ.
In Ephesians, we taught that the church was distracted by their pursuit of a worldly life in wealthy Ephesus. Once again, we taught that the church left their first love by pursuing personal gratification, wealth and public praise rather than seeking Christ's reward and praise.
These two perspectives agree entirely. The church left their first love by setting aside His word and the pursuit of the Gospel and the glory of Christ to chase worldly interests of one kind or another.
