The Graceless Man
E.A. Johnston warns that mere religious activity without true grace and regeneration leaves a man lost and graceless before God.
In "The Graceless Man," E.A. Johnston delivers a sobering message about the dangers of relying on outward religious acts without true grace and regeneration. He exposes the emptiness of self-righteousness and calls listeners to genuine repentance and faith in Christ. This sermon challenges believers to examine their hearts and embrace the transformative power of God's grace.
Full Transcript
When a man finds religion through a decision based on a mental flip for a Jesus he has never met, he ends up assuming that because he has performed a physical act, he has proved positive of his salvation. But the sad reality is he is yet a graceless man, though a religious man. He is a baptized man, but an unregenerate man.
He has convinced himself that he has found salvation from the penalty of sin, though he is yet in his sins. He mistakes an outward reformation for inward repentance, and cleans himself up enough to pass muster at church, but he is still like the man from Proverbs. There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
In other words, though he is now a good church member, he is still outside the blood of Christ Jesus for forgiveness of sin. Therefore he carries the name Christian without ever having his sins washed in Christ's blood. The graceless man is a religious man, clothed in his own fig leaves of self-righteousness.
The graceless man has found religion, but he has missed Christ. The graceless man is quick to condemn others and accuse those who do not measure up to his standards. The graceless man has no grace toward another sinner, but only judgment.
The graceless man carries a good opinion of himself and a poor opinion of others, but he is a man who has never seen the corrupt windings of his own deceitful heart. He elevates himself by putting others down. The graceless man cannot minister grace to others because he has no grace himself.
The love of Jesus will not be evident in a graceless man. The graceless man can often be an ordained minister at a church and be in a position to do a great deal of harm to others. The graceless man cannot see himself for what he is, an unregenerate man who travels a religious road to hell.
The graceless man is a stranger to Holy Spirit conviction. The graceless man is a stranger to heartfelt repentance toward God. The graceless man is a fraud, a phony, and a fake imitation of true vital Christianity.
The graceless man has no grace, and his hope of heaven is nothing more than a hole in the wall. God has never wrought a work of grace upon his heart in the supernatural act of regeneration. The graceless man is a Christian in name only.
The graceless man is a man in bondage. Like a mummy without life, he moves about wrapped in the grave clothes of a dead religion. He speaks but without authority from on high.
He acts but lacks the grace to be a spiritual blessing to others. He is nothing but a jam whose own shadow shrinks from him. Our churches are full of graceless men and women who have never been awakened to their lost condition, have never known Holy Spirit conviction.
They have missed repentance and therefore missed faith, and therefore are strangers to Christ Jesus. The graceless man is a dangerous man who represents to the world a Christ he has never met. The Pharisees were religious, graceless men who crucified the Lord of glory.
Salvation is through grace. In Ephesians 2.8 we read, For by grace are ye saved through faith, and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God.
The graceless man will live upon a false foundation of an empty religious profession while he travels a religious road to hell, and his graceless soul will one day bust hell wide open when he dies in his sins. A hell is full of religious graceless men who never found Christ Jesus, and they fill hell by the hour.
Sermon Outline
-
I
- The graceless man confuses outward religion with true salvation
- Religious acts do not guarantee regeneration
- The danger of self-righteousness without grace
-
II
- Characteristics of the graceless man
- Lack of grace toward others and self-deception
- The graceless man’s impact on the church and ministry
-
III
- The necessity of Holy Spirit conviction and heartfelt repentance
- Salvation is by grace through faith, not works
- The eternal consequences of graceless religion
Key Quotes
“The graceless man is a religious man, clothed in his own fig leaves of self-righteousness.” — E.A. Johnston
“The graceless man is a stranger to Holy Spirit conviction. The graceless man is a stranger to heartfelt repentance toward God.” — E.A. Johnston
“Salvation is through grace. In Ephesians 2:8 we read, For by grace are ye saved through faith, and not of yourselves.” — E.A. Johnston
Application Points
- Examine your heart to ensure your faith is rooted in true grace, not just outward religion.
- Seek the Holy Spirit’s conviction for genuine repentance and transformation.
- Show grace to others as evidence of God’s work in your life.