We do not die by ourselves; rather, we die together with the Lord. We were baptized "into His death" (Rom. 6:3); "we have grown together with Him in the likeness of His death" (Rom. 6:5); "we have died with Christ" (Rom. 6:8); "our old man has been crucified with Him that the body of sin might be made of none effect, that we should no longer serve sin as slaves" (Rom. 6:6). We cannot crucify ourselves, and we will not die. This "co-crucifixion" is an accomplished fact. It was accomplished when the Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross. The death of the Lord Jesus is a fact; that the Lord Jesus died for us is also a fact, and our being crucified together with Him is also a fact. "Has been crucified," according to the original, is a continuous word; it is in the absolute perfect tense, which means that our old man's crucifixion with the Lord Jesus is an act that had been accomplished once for all when the Lord died. But what is the result of dying with the Lord? What is the goal? We know from Romans 6:6 that the result is that the body of sin is made of none effect, and the goal is to make us no longer the slaves of sin. Let us use an illustration to explain this fact. There are three things: the old man, sin, and the body of sin. Sin is like a master, the old man is like a housekeeper, and the body is like a puppet. Sin does not have the authority and power to take over the body of sin or to direct it to sin. Sin directs the old man; when the old man consents to it, the body becomes the puppet. So while our old man is alive, it remains in the middle. The body is outside, and sin is inside. The sin within tempts the old man, and the lust of the old man is stirred up. This causes the old man to give the order to the body to sin and to engage in transgressions. The body is most pliable; whatever you tell it to do, it will do. It is something that has no dominion over itself. By itself, it cannot do anything; it can only act according to the order of the old man. When the Lord saves us, He does not put our body to death, nor does He destroy the root of sin. Rather, He crucified our old man with Him on the cross.

What is the result of crucifying the old man? The result is "that the body of sin might be made of none effect." In the original Greek, "none effect" means "unemployed." This means that, without the old man, the body of sin cannot do anything anymore. Formerly, the body of sin functioned daily according to the old man's order. It seemed as if to sin had become its occupation. All it did was commit sins. The old man loved sin exceedingly; it wanted to sin, craved for sin, and was fond of doing sinful things; the body followed after the old man to sin and became the body of sin. Now after the old man is dealt with by the Lord and is crucified, the body of sin becomes unemployed; there is no more work for it to do. When the old man was alive, it was the profession and the occupation of the body of sin to commit sins every day. Thank the Lord, this hopeless old man has been crucified! The body of sin has also lost its job! Even though sin still exists and still tries to be the master, yet I am no longer its slave. Although time and again sin tries to energize the body to commit sin, it cannot break through because the Holy Spirit has become the Master within the new man. As a result, sin is unable to activate the body to commit sin anymore. Hence, the goal of the crucifixion of the old man and the unemployment of the body of sin in Romans 6:6 is that "we should no longer serve sin as slaves."

We have seen these three items: one fact—"that our old man has been crucified with Him," one result—"that the body of sin might be made of none effect," and one goal—"that we should no longer serve sin as slaves." These three are linked together and cannot be separated. We know the fact, the result, and the goal. But how can we achieve this? What are the conditions that we need to fulfill before we can have the experience of dying together with the Lord? It is to believe. There is no other condition except to believe.

The way one receives the substitutional death of the Lord Jesus is the same way he dies together with Him. Through faith, not works, one shares the result of the Lord Jesus' substitutional death, which is deliverance from eternal punishment. In the same way, through faith, one shares the result of dying with the Lord Jesus, which is freedom from sin. It is a fact that the Lord Jesus has already died for you. It is also a fact that you have already died with the Lord Jesus. If you do not believe in Christ's death for you, you cannot partake of the effectiveness of this death—deliverance from punishment. If you do not believe in your death with Christ, you will likewise not be able to receive the effectiveness of death with Him—freedom from sin. All those who believe in the substitutional death of Christ are saved, and all those who believe in their death with Christ have overcome. To share in the death of the Lord Jesus—whether it be the substituting or the participating death—requires faith. God requires that we believe. We need to believe in the Lord's death for us and His death with us. Romans 6:11 says, "So also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin." The word "reckon" is extremely important. Oftentimes we like to "sense" if our old man has died. We like to "feel" if our old man has died. If we try to sense or feel, our old man will never die in our experience. Our old man does not die from our "sensing" or "feeling." The more we "sense," the more we notice that our old man is not dead, and the more we "feel," the more we see that our old man is still alive. The old man is not crucified by "sensing" or "feeling." The old man experiences crucifixion through "reckoning." What is reckoning? "Reckoning" is an act of faith; "reckoning" is the application of faith; "reckoning" is the judgment of the will and the execution of the will. "Reckoning" is completely contrary to "sensing" and "feeling." "Sensing" and "feeling" have to do with one's feelings, while "reckoning" has to do with faith and the will. Therefore, the crucifixion of our old man is not something we have to feel. It is wrong to say, "I do not feel that my old man is dead." Whether the old man has died or not does not depend on your feeling; it depends on whether or not you have reckoned it.