Line Upon Line

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 sought Him.

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, targeted prayer.

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—to respond in faith.