The Real Grace

MEMORISE:

"For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." - (Romans 6:14)

READ: TITUS 2:11-12 (KJV)

11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

MESSAGE:

There are many preachers today who say that once a person is saved, he or she is forever saved, so the fellow would go to heaven even if he or she keeps committing sin. That is a big lie. My own Bible says clearly in Romans 6:15: "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid." 

Real grace enables you to live holy rather than permit you to commit sin. What the grace of God does is give you the ability to live above the dictates of your flesh. It is by grace that you are saved (Ephesians 2:4-5). After that, the grace of God that brought you salvation will then teach you to live holy. "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world". This is the true work of grace that the Bible talks about.

Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. - (2 Timothy 1:9)

Please ignore anyone who tells you that the grace of God allows you to commit sin. That is a message from the devil, carefully put together to send many people to hell. The devil knows that no sinner will enter into heaven, so he carefully crafted this message for Christians to ensure that they continue to sin even after responding to the altar call, but he will fail over you, in Jesus' name.

I have had big men of God argue with me over this subject and each time, I tell them, "Let us assume that you are correct, and once I have given my life to Christ before, heaven is sure even if I keep committing sin. That means if rapture takes place or we both die, we will both go to heaven. But if you are wrong, that means if rapture takes place now or we both die, I will go to heaven, and you will go to hell. Either way, I am still correct. I would rather choose the safe path". What about you?

KEY POINT:

Grace is the enablement to live above sin, not permission to commit it.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: MARK 8-9

AUTHOR PASTOR E A ADEBOYE 

HYMNAL:  8 - I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR

1. I need Thee every hour,

Most gracious Lord;

No tender voice like Thine

Can peace afford.

REFRAIN: 

I need Thee, Oh, I need Thee;

Ev'ry hour I need Thee!

Oh, bless me now, my Saviour,

I come to Thee! 

2. I need Thee every hour,

Stay Thou nearby;

Temptations lose their power

When Thou art nigh.

3. I need Thee every hour,

In joy or pain;

Come quickly and abide

Or life is vain.

4. I need Thee every hour,

Teach me Thy will;

And Thy rich promises

In me fulfill.

5. I need Thee every hour,

Most Holy one;

Oh, make me Thine indeed,

Thou blessed Son!

Culled from the Redeemed Christian Church of God Open heaven manual. 2023.

THE VEBLEN EFFECT

At 23, Julius Caesar was a junior politician on the way up – and he had substantial advantages: Confidence and Brains!

While sailing across the Aegean Sea, he was captured by Sicilian pirates. They demanded a ransom: 20 talents of silver. That is about 620 Kg, worth about $600,000 today.

Caesar told them they were being ridiculous. He couldn’t possibly allow himself to be ransomed so cheaply. The pirates hesitated; they were confused. Caesar insisted the ransom must be raised to 50 talents of silver –around 1,550 Kg, worth about $1.5 million.

Now the pirates had no idea what to make of this. Normally, their captives tried to escape as cheaply as possible. They didn’t understand what was going on. But, if he said he would double the ransom, why argue? 

They let Caesar’s men go back to Rome to raise the money. And in Rome, in his absence, Caesar suddenly became very famous and well known. No one had ever been ransomed for such an enormous sum ever before.

People assumed he must be someone very special; he must be incredibly important. Thus did the demand for such an enormous amount of silver for ransom put Caesar on the political map and made him famous.

He had just invented _*’The Veblen Effect’*_. Although Thorstein Veblen wouldn’t give it that name for another 2,000 years !

Interestingly, the Veblen Effect is an illusory psychological strategy that has been in use for generations – for thousands of years. It describes the phenomena wherein consumers perceive higher-priced goods to have greater value and be much better than they actually are … _*simply because they cost more*_!

Ironically, despite all the knowledge, technological advancement as well as awareness and detailed understanding of it, the Veblen Effect continues to persist. 

There are many examples … Rolex, Cartier, Bentley, Apple, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin, Louis Vuitton, Christian Louboutin, Harrods, Cristal Champagne, etc.

These products may not be any better – functionally – than their cheaper alternatives, but their high prices alone make them _seem_ better, more valuable and therefore much more desirable.

Caesar effectively made himself a Veblen brand. He placed a much higher value on himself than anyone in Rome. But, as far as anyone in Rome knew, it wasn’t he who had done it; It was an _independent valuation_. Which made it credible and authentic. And because Caesar was now so highly valued, his men had little trouble raising the ransom. They returned to the island and freed him.

But Caesar wasn’t going to allow the pirates to keep that sort of money at all. As important and famous a man as he had become, it was easy to raise a huge force which he used to hunt down the pirates and take back all the money, plus everything else they had pillaged, and then execute all of them.

Thus, Caesar became both very rich and very famous.

In time, with that same combination of confidence and intelligence, he became the ruler of all Rome. And he presided over the golden age of the Roman Empire.

Expanding it from Spain to Germany, from Britain to the Middle East. Because Caesar understood that reality begins in the mind.

So, the most important piece of real estate in which to stake a claim is the human mind.

How you stake a claim in the mind is by creating a perception. And how you create that perception is by controlling the context.

Control the context and you control the mind.

Control the mind and you control reality.

A very good example of ‘The Veblen Effect’ is Johnnie Walker Double Black Scotch whisky!

The _basic_ JW Black is labelled as being at least 12 years old scotch. But JW Double Black has no age statement! 

Nonetheless, JW Double Black is sold at a higher price than basic JW Black based on the perceived notion that 'double black' must be much better than just 'black', and that is reinforced by Double Black being much costlier than Black!  That is how the human mind works.

In reality, no one knows what is so special about Double Black, except that the label claims it to be very smooth; without actually saying it is _smoother_ than Black! 

Many believe that this is simply a marketing strategy to pass off un-aged scotch at a much higher price, through the Veblen Effect!

Apple mobile phones are another such product, the phones have far less features that Android phones, have a far inferior battery life and yet are twice the price of Android phones!! A Classic Veblen effect. It's amusing that particularly the people who don't understand technology at all, fall for the Veblen effect and buy Apple products, despite them having a far higher, overall cost of acquisition.

And that is how the Veblen Effect, when properly implemented, becomes a highly successful and profitable marketing strategy … to separate consumers from their hard-earned money while simultaneously leaving them feeling good about it – and continually coming back for more!