How is our death with Christ a liberation from burden?
Orientation
Many believers carry the crushing burden of trying to earn God's favor by their own efforts, living under a constant sense of condemnation.
- The law's demands expose our inability to produce true righteousness.
- Self-effort leads to futility and bondage, not freedom.
- This burden creates fear and uncertainty in our relationship with God.
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (Romans 7:24)
— Romans 7:24
Clarification
Liberation is not about trying harder to keep the law, but about being united to Christ in His death, which ends the law's claim over us.
- Our death with Christ is a legal reality, not a feeling or an achievement.
- This death frees us from obligation to the flesh and its self-driven efforts.
- The goal is not law-keeping, but living by faith in the indwelling Christ.
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. (Romans 7:4)
— Romans 7:4
Structure
God's logic is that our union with Christ in His death liberates us from the law, so we can live by His imputed righteousness through the Spirit.
- Cause: United with Christ in His death.
- Effect: Dead to the law's demands and sin's dominion.
- Result: Free to live by faith in Christ, receiving His righteousness and Spirit-empowerment.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
— Galatians 2:20
Weight-Bearing Prose
The core assertion is that our death with Christ is the definitive end of the law’s claim over the believer. This is a Pauline category: through the law, we died to the law (Galatians 2:19). The law’s purpose was to bring us to the end of ourselves, not to provide a path for self-improvement. Any attempt to earn righteousness through works remains under the law’s curse and rejects the sufficiency of the cross. The flesh—human capacity under law—cannot please God. The alternative is not a reformed flesh, but a new life principle: the Spirit. Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us through faith alone, apart from works. This is our standing. The Spirit’s empowerment is for walking in this reality, not for achieving it. The Bema seat (2 Corinthians 5:10) is therefore approached without fear of condemnation, as it concerns the celebration of Christ’s work, not the scrutiny of our failures.
Integration
Your standing before God is secure. It rests on Christ’s finished work and your union with Him in His death. There is no condemnation. The burden of self-justification has been lifted by God’s own act. Your life now is by faith in the Son of God who loved you. The Spirit within you is the power for this new life. You are free. This freedom is not a challenge to measure up, but a reality to rest in. Christ is your righteousness, your sanctification, your reward. You can approach God with joy and peace, assured of your welcome. The Bema seat is a celebration of grace, not a tribunal of fear. You are liberated. Rest here.