Line Upon Line

Drawing from 2 John, Pastor Miles examines the modern phenomenon of "deconversion" in light of the apostle John's warnings about deceivers who departed from the truth of Christ. He calls believers to disciplined responsibility—walking in truth, persevering in the doctrine of Christ, and carrying the gospel to others so as not to lose their reward.

In the closing verses of 1 John 5, Pastor Miles teaches that believers can have a settled confidence in their eternal future with God, in God's present hearing and answering of prayer, and in God's keeping power that ensures they will not remain in sin. This confidence frees Christians to pray boldly for the conversion and restoration of fellow sinners and to live in the fullness of joy John intends.

Opening a new series on the brief letters of 2 and 3 John, Pastor Miles introduces the aged Apostle John and unpacks 2 John 1:1-6, showing that those who truly know Jesus (the Truth) are enabled by the Spirit to walk in genuine, practical love. He emphasizes that truth and love are inseparable, that we receive grace, mercy, and peace only by accepting both the truth and the love of the gospel, and that God who loved us when we were unlovely enables us to love the unlovely.

A verse-by-verse study of 1 John 5:5-13 showing that eternal life is received by faith in Jesus as the fully divine Son of God, a truth God Himself testifies to in at least five ways. John writes so that believers would have assurance of eternal life and, crucially, continue to believe and not fall away.

John teaches that there is a Spirit of truth and a spirit of error in the world, and he gives a single decisive test for discerning them: does a spirit confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh? Both the ancient Gnostic counterfeit and the modern naturalistic counterfeit fail this test, but Christians need not fear because the Spirit who dwells in them makes them overcomers.

Examining 1 John 3:18-24, this teaching addresses the despair and self-condemnation believers can feel when measured against Scripture's call to sacrificial love, and shows that our standing with God rests not on our devotion but on His love—because God is greater than our hearts and knows all things.

Working through 1 John 4:20–5:5, Pastor Miles teaches that a true profession of love for God must be backed up by an active, 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love for God's children. He explains John's three tests of authenticity—obedience, love, and faith—and stresses that we become children of God not by keeping commandments but by believing in Christ, who then enables us to love.

In 1 John 4:7-19, John returns to the theme of love, teaching that Christians love one another in response to God's great love demonstrated at the cross, where Jesus became the propitiation for our sins. Because God is love by nature, the invisible God becomes visible through the tangible love of His people, and the abiding presence of that love—together with righteousness—gives believers assurance and boldness even in the day of judgment.

Teaching from 1 John 4:1-6 on discerning between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error in a world flooded with information and competing worldviews. Pastor Miles argues that ideologies originate from spiritual sources, that both ancient Gnosticism and modern naturalism are dangerous counterfeits, and that the test of any spirit is the confession that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.

From 1 John 3:16-24, Pastor Miles teaches that genuine love is defined and demonstrated by Christ laying down His life for us, and that our practice—not merely our profession—proves whether we truly belong to God as His children. The greatest demonstration of love at Calvary compels believers to sacrificially love others through their deeds, time, resources, and gospel witness.