Paul’s question—“How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Romans 6:2)—isn’t a question. It’s a reminder. To answer it, you must understand how Christ died to sin.

Jesus was never under sin’s power. Not once. He died to sin by carrying its guilt, its condemnation, its imputation (Isaiah 53:6).
That means your death to sin is not a death to its existence, but a death to its claim.

You died to the courtroom, not the battlefield.

Reckon: The Accounting Word That Sets You Free

Paul says, “Reckon yourselves dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11).
“Reckon” (logizomai) is a ledger term. Not wishful thinking. Not pretending. It means count on it as a settled, audited fact:

In Christ, the guilt of sin has already been stamped “Paid in Full.”

And here’s the spiritual physics:
You can only overcome the power of sin after you are free from its guilt.
If your conscience is still negotiating with condemnation, sin will always feel stronger than you.

Jesus Demonstrated the Order

To the woman caught in adultery, Jesus didn’t start with a lecture on behaviour.
He started with a verdict:
“Neither do I condemn you.” (John 8:11)
Only then:
“Go and sin no more.”

Grace removes the guilt,
and once guilt is gone, sin loses its lure.

When you allow condemnation back into your heart, you stop “reckoning.”
And when you stop reckoning, sin starts acting alive again.

But when you stand in the truth -
that you died to guilt,
that the Judge already ruled,
that your ledger is clean—
sin’s power collapses.