By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou
Sunday, July 19th 2026
Sunday, July 19th 2026
The first Letter that Christ sends through the Evangelist John the Theologian, and which is written in the book of the Revelation of John, is addressed to the Bishop of Ephesus. It reads:
“To the angel of the Church of Ephesus write: These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven lampstands. I know your works and your labor and your patience, and that you cannot tolerate evil people; and you have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and have found them to be false. And you have patience and have endured for My name’s sake and have not grown weary. Nevertheless, I have this against you: that you have abandoned your first love. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works. Otherwise, if you do not repent, I will come to you quickly and will remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Whoever has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. To the one who conquers I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of My God.” (Revelation 2:1–7)
Ephesus was an ancient city of Asia Minor, recognized as the “First Metropolis of Asia,” and there the Apostle Paul labored for three years, as did the Evangelist John himself. It is the most venerable and distinguished of the Churches of Asia Minor. Judaizers and Gnosticizers appeared in this city. Several interesting points will be emphasized from this Letter that distinguish it from the other Letters. In general, in Revelation, as we have seen, Christ is presented as holding the seven stars (the Bishops) and walking among the seven golden lampstands, which are the seven Churches mentioned in Revelation. This means that Christ is the Governor, the One who directs the Churches.
The Bishop of Ephesus is praised for his labor, for his faith, for his patience, and because he does not tolerate these false apostles who, although they are not apostles, present themselves as apostles. At the same time, he hates the works of the Nicolaitans, which Christ also hates. Unfortunately, wherever there are Apostles, the false apostles also appear, just as the Antichrist appears, who wages war against Christ. The important thing is that the Bishop possessed spiritual criteria and distinguished the true apostles from the false. This is the meaning of the verb “and you have tested” them — that is, you tested them.
The Evangelist John writes in his Catholic Epistle: “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1). Among the fundamental qualities of a Bishop and of a Christian is to possess criteria of faith, to discern what comes from God and what comes from the devil. This presupposes spiritual experience and knowledge of God; therefore, the foundation of Christian and theological life is the experience of God. Among these heretics were the so-called Nicolaitans. They believed that they would be saved by committing “abominable deeds,” connecting the Christian and ecclesiastical life with the practice of carnal sins. It is the same thing that many people say today, that Christ does not concern Himself with carnal sins, with “misusing the flesh.” And this is the result of a lack of criteria in the spiritual life. Some interpret that they were called Nicolaitans after a certain Nicholas, who was among the first deacons. We do not know this precisely.
What is important is that this mentality of combining ecclesiastical life with the old man, with his passions and desires, is characterized as Nicolaitanism, and God hates it — not the person, but this mentality and the sin. The Bishop of Ephesus did the same, and therefore it is written: “But you have this in your favor: that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” The Bishop of Ephesus, together with the Church, waged a great struggle against the heretics and the false apostles and endured sufferings for His name’s sake; therefore he is praised by Christ.
Yet, despite the good works he has, He rebukes him for having abandoned his first love, the first zeal he had for Christ. He has great zeal, but if he does not take care, this zeal, this inward sensitivity, diminishes, and this is regarded as a fall. One cannot devote oneself only to external works, nor wage a struggle only against the heretics, but must preserve the flame of the Grace of God burning in the heart. Christ urges the Bishop to repentance and to do the first works of Grace.
From the patristic tradition we know that there are three stages of the spiritual life: the first coming of divine Grace, the withdrawal of divine Grace in order that the person may be tested, and its coming again. This is a natural course in the spiritual life. But what is terrible is when someone loses his first love through his own negligence. And here it may also mean that this Bishop occupied himself with the persecution of the heretics and the safeguarding of the faith of Christ, but neglected his inner life and his spiritual course. External works must be carried out in parallel with progress in the inner life.
Just as there is repentance for every sin, the same applies in this case. He must examine from where he has fallen, perhaps even how he fell, and find a way to return. There must always be self-examination in our lives. Repentance is necessary in our life, because we cannot remain fixed at one point; man is “prone to fall and easily deceived.” Knowing our falls and repenting is positive; on the contrary, it is negative not to understand our sins, and even more negative not to repent.
Christ warns the Bishop of Ephesus that if he does not repent, He will come quickly “and will remove the lampstand from its place.” The lampstand is the Church, and the movement of the lampstand is “the deprivation of divine Grace.” It is truly terrible for Grace to be lost from a Church: for a Church to appear to exist, for works and activities to take place, for services to be celebrated, yet for it to be stripped of divine Grace, unable to heal and regenerate the faithful.
At the end, He assures him that to the one who conquers in the struggle against the devil and sin, He will give to eat from the tree of life that is in Paradise. In the original Paradise there were, among other things, two trees: one was the tree of the knowledge of evil and good, and the other was the tree of life. Adam and Eve ate from the first and were expelled from Paradise. Now, through life in Christ, we must conquer the devil through the “passions naturally rooted in us,” so that we may participate in blessed and eternal life and eat from the tree of life.
The Letter that Christ sent to the Bishop of Ephesus is a very important Letter that refers not only to the Bishop of the Church of Ephesus, but also to every Bishop of the Church and to every Christian, since, as we said, there is a close relationship between the Bishop, the Church, and Christians. We must hold fast to the Orthodox faith and live the first love, preserving the Grace of God in our hearts.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
