Line Upon Line

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.

Paul anticipates the question: if we are under grace and no longer under the law, why not keep sinning? His answer is that grace does not free us into autonomy but transfers our slavery — from bondage to sin (which yields shame, lost joy, captivity of will, and death) to the service of righteousness and God, which yields holiness and everlasting life.

Building on Romans 1-5's teaching about justification, this study turns to sanctification, showing that believers have died to sin and been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life. Because we are no longer slaves to sin but freed by grace, we are called to reckon ourselves dead to sin and present our bodies as instruments of righteousness to God.

Examining Romans 5:12-21, this teaching contrasts the two most impactful men in human history—Adam, whose one act of disobedience brought sin and death to all humanity, and Jesus, whose one righteous act on the cross makes justification and eternal life available to all who believe. The "Adam Bomb" of original sin is answered by the super-abounding grace found only in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Drawing on the "therefore" of Romans 5:1-11, this teaching shows that those justified by grace through faith have peace with God, access to abundant grace, and a certain hope of glory—giving believers reason to rejoice not only in their salvation but even in tribulation, which God uses to conform them to the image of Christ.

Working through Romans 4:13-25, Pastor Miles shows that Abraham received God's promise not through keeping the law but through the righteousness of faith, making him the father of all who believe. Because salvation rests on God's promise and Christ's resurrection rather than human works, the same justifying faith Abraham exercised is now available to everyone who believes.

Tracing the Bible's grand storyline of creation, fall, and redemption through Abraham's life, this teaching shows that Abraham was declared righteous by faith—not works, bloodline, or circumcision—and that the same grace through faith is available to all who trust in the God who justifies the ungodly through Jesus Christ.

Drawing from 2 Corinthians 3:18, Pastor Miles celebrates the goodness of God demonstrated through Cross Connection Escondido's ministry in 2012 and casts vision for 2013, with the year's theme word, "Reflect," calling believers to behold and mirror the glory of the Lord to the world.

Beginning a new year, Pastor Miles works through Paul's concluding exhortations in 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18, urging the church not to drift but to grow in faith, hope, and love by warning the idle, comforting the fainthearted, upholding the weak, being patient with all, refusing to repay evil for evil, rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, and giving thanks in everything.

A year-end "prophecy update" teaching that surveys what the Bible actually says about the last days, the second coming of Christ, and Calvary Chapel's premillennial, pre-tribulational position—held with humility—before concluding from Matthew 24 and Acts 1 that the chief sign of the end is the worldwide preaching of the gospel, which means the church has work to do.

A Christmas-season teaching from Romans 3:21-31 showing that all humanity is hopelessly guilty before a just and holy God who cannot simply overlook sin, and that the Advent of Jesus Christ is the answer to how God can remain just while justifying sinners through faith in Christ's atoning death.

A meditation, occasioned by the Sandy Hook tragedy, on Romans 3:9-20, showing that Scripture declares all humanity "under sin" and that the law was given not to make us righteous but to expose our guilt and drive us to Christ. The teaching closes by pointing to the Advent of Jesus, the only source of righteousness and true peace (shalom).

Paul anticipates the inevitable questions a Jewish reader would raise after being told that descent from Abraham gives no advantage at the day of judgment, affirming that the Jews' chief privilege was being entrusted with God's word, and that God remains faithful and just even when people fail to believe. The teaching applies this to America's stewardship of Scripture and our calling to carry God'...