“For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.” Galatians 2:19
In Galatians 2:20 Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live.” This “no longer I” is the old “I.” It is the “I” of the flesh. It is the “flesh-I” that tries to please God. It is the “I” that tries to keep the law. Verse 19 tells us how Paul arrived at “no longer I”: “I through law have died to law that I might live to God.” Paul took up the law, and through the law he eventually died to it in order that he might be transferred to live to God. So Paul could say, “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live.” The “I” trying to attain, trying to keep the law, is the “I” that has been crucified.
There may be religious striving in us. This kind of striving can be found in any set of religious activities. We may be reading the Bible. We may be praying. We may be doing good deeds. Yet we are doing these things with the motive to do something that will please God. Hebrews 9:14 calls these religious works of the flesh “dead works.” Dead works are works in us that have no regard for the cross. They are works that seek to establish a righteousness based upon personal attainment, rather than righteousness that is imputed to us as a gift based upon what Christ did on the cross (Gal. 2:21). If this is the case in our experience, we will never feel accepted by the Lord. We consciously and unconsciously examine our conduct to find a reason to feel better and to feel closer to the Lord. We strive to attain acceptance by some means of our own.
This is why it is crucial to know Romans 8:10: “The spirit is life because of righteousness.” Righteousness in this verse is Calvary imputed righteousness. This means that my spirit is released before I do anything. My spirit is released, not because I released it, but because His righteousness released it! My spirit is life because of righteousness. It is not going to be life after I have prayed, called on the Lord, read my Bible, or adjusted my conduct. No! My spirit is in a constant state of life because of a blood-bought righteousness won for me at Calvary!