Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals: Friday May 16 2025
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Revelation 2:4-Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
The church at Ephesus began with the baptism of several disciples of John the Baptist (Acts 19:1-5). This makes sense, since the Bible is clear that baptism is where we “pledge” ourselves to Christ.
1 Peter 3:21 (BSB)-And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
That word “pledge” is also translated as “answer” and “appeal.” In the Greek speaking world of the first century, that word could mean all of these things. Writing of that word being translated as “pledge,” Barclay informs us:
“(2) Peter calls baptism the pledge of a good conscience to God (verse 21). The word Peter uses for pledge is eperōtēma. In every business contract, there was a definite question and answer which made the contract binding. The question was: ‘Do you accept the terms of this contract, and bind yourself to observe them?’ And the answer, before witnesses, was: ‘Yes.’ Without that question and answer, the contract was not valid. The technical word for that question-and-answer clause is eperōtēma in Greek, stipulatio in Latin. Peter is, in effect, saying that in baptism God said to those coming direct from the old religion: ‘Do you accept the terms of my service? Do you accept its privileges and promises, and do you undertake its responsibilities and its demands?’ And, in the act of being baptized, each individual answered: ‘Yes.’” (William Barclay, The New Daily Study Bible: The Letters Of James And Peter, 282-283 (Kindle Edition); Louisville, KY; Westminster John Knox Press)
When we are baptized, we are pledging ourselves to Christ. The church at Ephesus had done this! In many ways, they were a strong church, one that was able to find false teachers who claimed to be Apostles of Christ (Revelation 2:2). Yet even though many of their doctrines and practices were good and right, they had left their first love. Here we see an important lesson: a church can have all of its’ doctrines right, be practicing the plan of salvation, embrace the pattern of church government laid out in the Bible, have Scriptural worship, and still leave Jesus. The Book of Ephesians highlights that one of the issues which they needed to work on was how they were treating their fellow man.
The same was shown by Jesus when He reproved the Pharisees:
Matthew 23:23-Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
Luke 11:42-But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
The Pharisees had some important and good things going for them, and Jesus acknowledges this and commends them. Yet at the same time, they had passed over the “weightier matters” of the law.
How we treat our fellow man is an indicator of whether or not we are walking with Christ.
1 John 3:16-18 (ERV)-This is how we know what real love is: Jesus gave his life for us. So we should give our lives for each other as brothers and sisters. 17 Suppose a believer who is rich enough to have all the necessities of life sees a fellow believer who is poor and does not have even basic needs. What if the rich believer does not help the poor one? Then it is clear that God’s love is not in that person’s heart. 18 My children, our love should not be only words and talk. No, our love must be real. We must show our love by the things we do.
Father, we ask You to help us walk closer to You each day. Help us to love our neighbors better today than we did yesterday. Forgive us when we leave You, our first love. We want to be more like You. Forgive us, restore us, and strengthen us. You are our only hope. Amen.
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