The sixth chapter of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans reveals the believer’s identity as being dead to sin and alive to God. Paul emphasized that we must live in accordance with our new identity. The first step is knowing this theological truth as Paul pointed out our identification with Christ:

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? (Romans 6:3)

Next, we see this was a co-crucifixion with Christ:

knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; (Romans 6:6)

This was the same word for co-crucifixion that was used in Galatians 2:20. The word knowing is the idea of an experiential knowledge usually gained through personal involvement or experience. We are to know that our old self was crucified with Jesus. We were spiritually dead:

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, (Ephesians 2:1)

The unregenerate man cannot save himself. We must realize that we have not only been crucified with Christ, but we are risen with Him in newness of life. Our responsibility is to live in accordance with our new, true identity. God did not come to make bad men good – He came to make dead men live! There are two primary words for old in the Greek language, Paul chose the word that describes that which is worn out or useless. 

The result of our co-crucifixion with Christ is that we are no longer slaves to sin. When Paul wrote that our body of sin might be done away, the idea is that sin as the dominating aspect of our lives has become ineffective. Finally, Paul wants us to know that Christ has been raised from the dead, never to die again:

knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. (Romans 6:9)

It is imperative that we know and understand these important theological truths. As the prophet Hosea warned:

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Since you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the Law of your God, I also will forget your children. (Hosea 4:6)

We must  remember that pain is felt where there is life, and the area of pain is where death is needed in our old self. Jesus gave us the pathway to realizing the crucified life:

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, this is the one who will save it. (Luke 9:23-24)

We have a tendency to prop up the old self and our subsequent lessons will present Scriptural principles to help us walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh.