Line Upon Line

Drawing from Romans 15:1-13, this teaching calls believers to reject the world's "survival of the fittest" mindset and instead follow Christ's example of self-denial—bearing with the weak and pleasing others for their growth. As ambassadors of God's kingdom, Christians may face the same reproach Christ endured, but they lay hold of joy, peace, and hope by faith and live united so that Jews and Gen...

Working through Romans 14, Pastor Miles teaches how Christians should handle "gray areas"—doubtful, nonessential matters the Bible does not directly address. Rather than judging or despising one another over differing convictions, believers are to receive one another, walk by faith, and pursue righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Romans 13:8–14 teaches that the one debt we can never fully pay is the obligation to love one another, which fulfills the whole law. Because we cannot meet this command in our own strength, we depend on God's indwelling Spirit to empower us to love sacrificially, walk in the light, and put on Christ as our time grows short.

A verse-by-verse teaching on Romans 13:1-7 showing that civil government is a God-ordained institution, and that Christians are called both to submit to governing authorities (except when commanded to disobey God) and to support them through paying taxes, all as an expression of obedience to God and a path into the abundant Christian life.

Romans 12:9-21 contains roughly 45 practical exhortations that show how the believer actually lives out the abundant life Christ came to give. These commands are easy to understand but hard to apply, run contrary to our self-centered flesh, and are only possible through the enabling mercy and grace of God.

At Romans 12 Paul pivots from doctrine (orthodoxy) to practice (orthopraxy), showing how the believer experiences the abundant life now through submission, renunciation of the world, transformation by the renewing of the mind, sober self-evaluation, and active use of God-given spiritual gifts. The teaching closes with an exhortation to serve and give as faithful stewards of God's grace.

Paul declares that Israel's present unbelief is not permanent: their rejection of Jesus brought salvation to the Gentiles, but a day is coming when Israel will see the One they pierced and turn to Jesus in mass salvation. Gentile believers, grafted into the family tree of Abraham's faith by grace, must never boast against the natural branches but stand humbly in God's mercy.

Drawing on Romans 11:1-10, Pastor Miles teaches that God has not rejected Israel, His chosen people, despite their disobedience and rejection of the Messiah. Just as God preserved a faithful remnant of seven thousand in Elijah's day, He preserves today a remnant according to the election of grace—righteousness given freely through faith, never earned by lineage or works.

Working through Romans 10:14-21, Pastor Miles teaches that evangelism begins with prayer but demands the preaching of the Gospel, since faith comes by hearing the word of God, and is confirmed by lives so transformed by grace that they provoke unbelievers to jealousy. He explains how Israel, despite hearing God's word, failed to obey (believe) the Gospel, while God was found by Gentiles who never...

Working through Romans 10:1-13, Paul models a deep, prayerful desire for the salvation of his countrymen Israel, who had zeal for God but were ignorant of His righteousness, seeking to establish their own. The teaching shows that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes, that righteousness comes by faith and not works, and that evangelism begins with specific, target...

Drawing on the prophets Hosea and Isaiah, Paul demonstrates in Romans 9:22-32 that God justly cast away unrepentant Israel while mercifully calling Gentiles to be "My people," proving that both Jew and Gentile become God's people only by responding in faith to His merciful call, not by works or ancestry.

Working through Romans 9:19-24, Pastor Miles addresses the objection that God is unjust to find fault with those whose hearts He hardens, showing that the potter has sovereign authority over the clay. He argues that God works all things according to His foreknowledge, with goodness and justice, making vessels for honor and dishonor from the same fallen lump and calling people—both Jew and Gentile—...

Paul addresses the objection that God is unjust for choosing certain people to carry out His redemptive plan, showing that God's selection of Israel was about being a conduit of blessing to all nations, not about electing some individuals for heaven and others for hell. Through the contrast between Moses (who received mercy by faith) and Pharaoh (who was hardened in his rebellion), Paul reveals th...

Examining Romans 9:1-13, Pastor Miles explains Paul's deep grief over Israel's rejection of their Messiah, the unmatched privileges given to the descendants of Abraham, and why physical lineage was never the basis of salvation. The teaching shows that God sovereignly brings salvation by His power, through His promise, and according to His foreknowledge—and that this must be received by faith.

Drawing from the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus's "bread of life" discourse in John 6, this teaching shows that Jesus is the essential element for promoting and sustaining spiritual life, just as physical food sustains physical life. It calls hearers to come to and believe in Christ, and holds together both the responsibility of man and the sovereignty of God in salvation.

Taking a detour from Romans, Pastor Miles meditates on Ephesians 3 and Paul's prison-prayer that climaxes in verse 20, where God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think. He applies this confidence to the life and mission of the church, including an honest update on the church's finances and a call to prayer.

Working through Romans 8:31-39, Pastor Miles shows that because God has already given His own Son for us, He is unalterably for us, has justified us in Christ the Elect One, and through Christ's death, resurrection, and ongoing intercession secures us so that nothing—no trial, power, or created thing—can separate us from His love. The teaching repeatedly stresses that all this victory and security...

Continuing in Romans 8, Pastor Miles teaches that the Spirit helps believers in their weakness by interceding when they do not know how to pray, and that God works all things—including suffering—for the good of conforming His children to the image of Christ. He addresses the Calvinist-Arminian debate over foreknowledge and predestination, urging humility and locating our destiny "in Christ."

Drawing from Romans 8:14-18, Pastor Miles teaches that being led by the Spirit is the visible evidence of our sonship in God, modeled supremely by Jesus, and that this adoption secures us as heirs of God who inherit both His glory and His sufferings. The certain glory awaiting us far outweighs any suffering of this present life.

Paul contrasts the carnal mind, which produces death, with the spiritual mind, which produces life and peace, teaching that the believer's victory over sin is real and available now—not by self-effort in the flesh, but by yielding to the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Every Christian possesses the Spirit and therefore the ability to walk in this abundant life rather than the defeat of Romans...

Romans 8 opens with the declaration that there is no condemnation for those in Christ, transitioning from the frustration of Romans 7 to the victory available through the Holy Spirit. Pastor Miles teaches that what the law could not do because of our weak flesh, God accomplished by sending His Son, so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in those who walk according to the S...

Jesus Christ is not only one who experienced resurrection but is Himself the resurrection and the life, as proven by the empty tomb, the 500 witnesses, and the raising of Lazarus. This Easter message calls the hearer to respond to Jesus' call to come out of the tomb of death by confessing sin, believing in the risen Christ, and following Him publicly.

Paul's anguished declaration in Romans 7:13-25 describes the war between the believer's new nature in Christ and the old sinful flesh. Pastor Miles unlocks the passage with the "I/me key" and the "good key," showing that the law is good but cannot save, and that deliverance comes only through Jesus Christ.

Paul answers whether the law itself is sin by showing that the law is holy, just, and good—it exposes indwelling sin like an x-ray and points us to Christ. Drawing on Paul's own experience as a converted Pharisee, the teaching shows that the law cannot make us righteous but reveals our deep need for the Deliverer.

Paul teaches that just as death releases a spouse from the binding covenant of marriage, believers have died to the law through the body of Christ so they may be joined to the risen Jesus and bear fruit to God. Released from the law's judgment and the dominion of sin, Christians now serve in the newness of the Spirit rather than the oldness of the letter.