Romans 6:6 AMPC
We know that our old (unrenewed) self was nailed to the Cross with Him in order that [our] body [which is the instrument] of sin might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be the slaves of sin.
Colossians 3:3 AMPC
For [as far as this world is concerned] you have died, and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God.
Those of you who are struggling to die to self need to understand that your sincere effort to accomplish that denies the fact that Jesus has already taken care of it. It’s not just that your sins were laid on Christ at the Cross, but you, the entire fallen self was also nailed to the Cross with Christ. As fully as we believe that His death was real, so must we believe that our death In him was real since we are members of His body. The Cross does not deal with our sins apart from ourselves. Not only were all of our sins there nailed to the Cross, but our entire fallen personality was. “Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him.” It wasn’t just that sin’s penalty was taken care of, but since perpetrator was also crucified and buried. Instead of trying to die to self, we need to begin trusting that Jesus has already accomplished that on our behalf. As we trust and celebrate the truth of our victory and freedom from the old fallen self, we will begin to see the victorious reality of that liberation manifested in our daily lives. Luke 9 does not say that we are to take up our Cross daily and die to self. Instead, it says that we are take up our Cross daily and deny ourselves. In light of the Cross, that can only mean, this side of Calvary, that every day we are to buy faith, take up the banner and celebrate the fact that we personally were crucified with Christ and that we will deny the enemy trying to deceive us into thinking that somehow we are still the old man. You can’t be the old man and the new man at the same time. We are fully the new man or new creature in Christ, and old things have permanently passed away, as new things have come, for us to experience and enjoy continuously in this life and in the ages to come.