“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” Revelation 3:19
The Lord has just spoken strong truth to the Laodiceans. The Lord can never lie and He will not gloss over sin or disobedience. Therefore his words to this church and this church age are straightforward and cutting. But the Lord speaks these words because He loves His church and each person in it. The truth of what the Lord says and His love for each believer should produce instant repentance and return to Christ.
Those whom I love The word for love is very important. We would expect the Lord to use “agape”, the self-sacrificial love of the cross. Instead he uses the word of “phileo” which is the warm affection of intimate friendship, characterized by tender, heartfelt consideration and kinship. It is the word Peter uses in John 21 when he can’t tell the Lord he sacrificially loved Him for he denied Him three times, So he tells the Lord he likes him a lot, he wants to be with Him and fellowship with Him. The Lord uses the word “phileo” here of those who truly belong to Him. This verse applies to believers because the Lord does not fellowship with unbelievers. He died “agape” (sacrificial love) and rose again for all but He only fellowships “phileo” with those who are His followers. Therefore this verse applies only to believers.
I reprove The word means to expose, convict or reprove. It is the word used in Matthew 18:15. “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.” It is the principle behind the truth “Be sure your sins will find you out.” The Lord will not allow sin to stay hidden because He loves us and wants us pure.
And discipline The word is used of parents training children. It means to “discipline, educate, train, or chastise”. It is used in Acts to tell us Moses was “educated” in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. The purpose is not punishment, it is education. This teaches us an important truth. Jesus’ rebuke shows His great love. The fact God strives with us when we sin is evidence that He loves us. William Barclay said it this way, “It is, in fact, God’s final punishment to leave a man alone.” That us what hell is and what the Lord will bever do with a believer. “For whom the Lord loves, He chastens.”
So We can translate the word as therefore. Because the Lord loves us and disciplines us to correct our behavior and bring us to full maturity, there is action that is required.
Be zealous Zealous means “to be deeply committed to something, with the implication of accompanying desire; to be earnest, to set one’s heart on, to be completely intent upon”. The Lord urges the Laodiceans to set their minds and hearts on the the eternal treasures of God, not the worldly treasures they are now spending their time and energy collecting.
And repent To repent is to change one’s mind. They are to think differently about what is of high value in God’s eyes and pursue those things. It is the example Moses gave us. “He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.” (Hebrews 11:26) A life is a terrible thing to waste so the Lord corrects his followers.