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How can we who died to sin still live in it? In this passage, Paul is not speaking to the influence or presence of sin but rather the mastery and obligation to sin. The beauty of the gospel is that it both saves and sanctifies. We are brought to faith in Christ by the power of the gospel in our lives. Our union with Christ breaks the mastery and obligation to sin and we are therefore set free to walk in a newness of life. Our new pattern of life with Christ is not defined by a repeated cycle of struggle, shame and regret, but instead our identification with Christ sets us free. Our process of knowing what Christ has done for us, of considering ourselves dead to sin but alive to God, and the ongoing process of presenting ourselves to God redefines our spiritual journey. No longer trapped in an endless cycle, we are now set free to pursue Jesus and submit to His authority in our life.