1 Peter 1:13-25 KJV
13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Two doctrines taught in scripture is Christ ability to raise himself up and God the Father raising up Christ Jesus. Which is correct? Well if you are a new believer you will not fully understand perhaps what I going to say. It is because some have a hard time seeing Christ beyond being his Son and not fully part of the Godhead bodily, or else they believe Christ is God and not part of the Father and had power to deliver himself from hell all on his own. Yet Christ is clear in John that he is part of the Father. Colossian 2 points this issue out and speaks of Christ as being part of the Godhead bodily. Making himself fully God though he part, he is able to stand alone in power, but is part of God the Father and the Holy Spirit.

God raising Christ up and somewhere else it says Christ raised himself up makes no difference. Yet while on earth Christ walked as a man in the humanity, even born as a man from the womb, which God had never done until Christ became the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. The power of God be demonstrated through the raising. God's power being the source of the event. It easy to get caught up in grammatics. Yet we must dig deeper to fully grasp the event. It like the soldiers in John/Luke in garden on the night of his arrest, demonstrating God's power once again. It noted as God's power and will.

It is only through Christ death and resurrection we are saved, through the regeneration of God's word through the blood of the Lamb, the sacriice made for you and me. We are redeem with incorruptible seed. Seed that can not be destroy. The seed being both the word and the Lamb/Christ Jesus. Word of God must be sacrifice for sin to be corrected. It with God's judgment we learn never to do that again. It is a lifestyle correction that can not be modified without the power of God reaching into our very soul and making change. It is not a correction with silver and gold.

As a child I was to talkative, and one day my granny said I pay for a penny for every minute you do not talk. I made it three hours before slipping up. However the truth is I was paid not to do something I wanted too. Christ paid for our sin, to keep us from sinning. It came without gold and came without silver. It came with love for us. Christ dying for our sin, because we honor not God or worshipped God. It came because we understood not that man law was so corrupt that Christ had to die in order to redeem us through his blood, without the resurrection our redemption would not of been made clear, for the punishment of death lost its power that day. The punishment for sin died on the cross and Christ arose on the third day. It came with cruel mocking, a beating as well, blood pouring out for our sins. It came with love from above. God coming to redeem his people who would believe in his Son and his word of prophesy that comes even today.

In wilderness, Moses and the people seen God's wrath coming on children of disobedience, and yet it did not bother them to deny God's power to aid them in going into the promise land the first time. Instead they had to wait to go into the promise land. Sacrifice not done as directed by God through Moses caused people to die that dishonor even this. The law so strict that it caused death or punishment. People fearful of a angry God despite his love of manna and quail.

The works of man being judged by God, and yet sometimes it takes time for God's judgment to come. Is it because of man following God and obedience that causes sin to be overlooked til it reaches the heighth of heaven. Even God corrects his children. Yet he does cause judgment on works of darkness, that leads to full destruction.

It when we wake up and realizing resting in God and not the need of the sin, we fully realize we have the power to turn from sin. The desire gone to sin, to satisfy our own desires but instead obey the will of God in our life to be free from sin and selfishness. It must come from the power of God's word in our life, through the knowledge of the power of the cross and resurrection in the believers life. Not our power but through Christ we gain power to overcome, or was the power ours before the cross through obedience to God's word We must ask then is the power of God greater in us by his Spirit, or us willing to hear and obey. At some point our desire changes to not my will but God's be done. Cain resisted the Holy Spirits warning and killed Abel. The killing itself not causing shame, but God's own sorrow convincing Cain to fear God, and yet his fear came with no remorse. God marked him and casted him out of his sight. David lust after being anointed by the Spirit of God did not stop him from his sin, but brought him to his knees and belly upon knowledge of the anger it caused God. He repented only to still be corrected.

One becomes a living sacrifice for God when what they do is by the will of God and standing up for the laws and ways of God. Most of us are never fully put in this position of right and wrong to have to speak against evil. It easier just to love and overlook sin, hoping love wins. Yet sometimes even sin must be corrected. God's people are not born with corruptible seed but born again by His Spirit to live a life of holiness and purity. His power and His Spirit gives that ability to be overcomers of faith. Yet we must recognize his power and his Spirit of love in our life, warning us not to sin.

Dear Heavenly Father may your love be greater then we are. Greater then our ability to sin. Lord through your redeeming love through the death and resurrection of your Son empower your believers to be overcomers, and not drawn back into the luxury of sin, but into the luxury of holiness. Draw us into the luxury of your holiness redeem through Christ. In Jesus precious name, Amen.

Continual Scripture Study: John 16:7-9 KJV
7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;