KNOWING THIS: touto ginoskontes (PAPMPN): literally "this knowing"

Knowing (1097) (ginosko) means to acquire information by whatever means, but often with the implication of personal involvement or experience. In Ro 6:9 Paul uses the verb eido which speaks of intuitive knowledge whereas ginosko suggests experimental

“You should be well aware (by what you have been experiencing),” he was saying, “that in Christ you are not the same people you were before salvation. You have a new life, a new heart, a new spiritual strength, a new hope, and countless other new things that had no part in your former life.”

THAT OUR OLD SELF WAS CRUCIFIED WITH HIM: hoti ho palaios emon anthropos sunestaurothe (3SAPI): (Gal 2:20; 5:24; 6:14; Eph 4:22; Col 3:5 Col 3:9-10)

“Our old man, our old state, as out of Christ and under Adam’s headship, under guilt and in moral bondage, was crucified with Christ” (Moule's paraphrase)

"our old [unregenerate] self was crucified once for all with Him" (Wuest)

"the person we used to be was crucified with Him" (GWT)

"Our old (unrenewed) self was nailed to the cross with Him" (Amplified)

In the table below note that the KJV has a misleading translation of the verbs in Romans 6:6-8.  Comparison of the verbs (highlighted in red) shows that the KJV translates each verb with a present tense meaning (is, is, be) whereas the NASB more accurately reflects the aorist tense which conveys the clear sense of a past completed action in each case.

Old (3820) (palaios from pálai = in the past, long ago) antique, not recent , old in the sense of worn out and decrepit. (see discussion of old self = old man)

There are two words for old, and Paul chooses palaios which means old in point of use instead of archaios (744) which is old in point of time and refers primarily to chronological age. Paul is describing this "man" as one who is completely worn out , useless, fit only for the scrap heap! For all practical purposes it is destroyed.

In other words, our new life as Christians is not a made-over old life but a new divinely-bestowed life that is Christ’s very own.

Old self is the unregenerate, in Adam (1Cor 15:22 Ro 5:12,18,19) man described in Romans 5, the person who is apart from divine redemption and the new life it brings.

Self (444) (anthropos) means a human being, a man or woman, an individual of the human race or a person.

Crucified with (4957) (sustauroo from sun = together with [click here for discussion of significance] + stauróo = to crucify <> from stauros = a cross which was an instrument of capital punishment = an upright pointed stake often with a crossbeam above it or intersected by a crossbeam) means to crucify together with. The preposition "sun" speaks of the believer's intimate spiritual union and identification with Christ. This union is sometimes referred to as a spiritual or "mystical" union but is no less a very real union in God's eyes.

Literally, “our old man was crucified together”. Note that "in Him" is not in the Greek but is added. The aorist tense depicts a historical event, one which has been completed in the past. As discussed above the reading of the KJV might mislead someone to interpret the crucifixion as a present tense or ongoing event. KJV read "our old man is crucified with Him".

Sustauroo is passive voice defining the action as performed on the subject by an outside source. The old man does not crucify himself. The crucifixion is performed by God. 

Dear reader, a practical application of the truth expressed in this verse is to honestly and soberly ask yourself the following question given in the form of a hymn...

WERE YOU THERE?
African-American spiritual

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?

Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?

Beloved if you in fact were there when they crucified my Lord, then something has happened to your old self and you can never live like you did before you were there. You are loosed so go forth and live in newness of life!

"Old self" or "Old man" identifies the unsaved person dominated by the totally depraved nature and "under sin", not "righteous", "helpless", "sinners" and "enemies" of God. The "old man" is therefore all that we were in Adam before we were saved and placed in Christ. (Click related topic old self -old man)

Note that this Biblical description of the "old self" is only a partial list of what each of us was spiritually in Adam before God co-crucified us with Christ.

John Piper says that the

"old self" is the me that was... rebellious against God and insubordinate to God's law and blind to God's glory and unbelieving toward His promises."

The believer does not have two competing natures, the old and the new; but one new nature that is still incarcerated in unredeemed flesh. The body of sin refers to the body as an instrument of sin and is to be used as an instrument of righteousness.

John MacArthur has some clarifying thoughts on an area that can be easily misunderstood and which can have negative consequences:

"The dualistic view that a Christian has two natures uses unbiblical terminology and can lead to perception that is extremely destructive of holy living. Some who hold such views go to the perverted extreme of the Gnostics in Paul’s day, claiming that because the evil self cannot be controlled or changed and because it is going to be destroyed in the future anyway, it does not much matter what you let it do. It is only “spiritual” things, such as your thoughts and intentions, that are of significance. It is not surprising that in congregations where such a philosophy reigns, immoral conduct among the membership as well as the leadership is common and church discipline is usually nonexistent. In a somewhat parallel passage in Colossians, Paul clearly states that a believer’s putting off the old self is a fair accompli, something that has already and irreversibly been accomplished. “Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him” (Col 3:9-10). It was not that every Colossian believer was fully mature and had managed to gain complete mastery over the residual old self. Paul was saying rather that every believer, at any level of maturity, can claim that his old self already has been laid aside “with its evil practices.” (Ed note: when we were justified by faith & were initially sanctified or set aside). In exactly the same way, his new self in Christ is already “being renewed” into conformity with the very image of the God who has recreated him (Ed note: process of sanctification). (MacArthur, J: Romans 1-8. Chicago: Moody Press)

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, applied the truth in this verse as an exhortation

“Do not go on living as if you were still that old man, because that old man has died. Do not go on living as if he was still there”

Paul wrote of spiritual crucifixion of saints several times in Galatians...

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me." (Gal 2:20)

"Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." (Gal 5:24)

"But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Gal 6:14)

THAT OUR BODY OF SIN MIGHT BE DONE AWAY WITH: hina katargege (3SAPS) to soma tes hamartias: (Ro 7:24; 8:3,13; Col 2:11,12)

That (2443) (hina) could be translated "in order that" and marks purpose, in this case Paul is explaining the purpose and effect of the co-crucifixion of our "old self" with Christ.

Body (4983) (soma) defines the body as an organized whole made up of parts and members.

Sin (266) (hamartia) originally conveyed the idea of missing the mark as when hunting with a bow, shooting the arrow and missing. The idea is of falling short of any goal, standard, or purpose.  As discussed below "sin" in Romans 6 represents a moral principle or force personified as evil in character. (Click related discussion of sin)

Body of sin refers to the our physical body as the vehicle or instrument through which sin expresses itself. Remember that in Romans 6 "sin" (see notes on "the Sin") always has the definite article preceding it which speaks of sin as an organized power, acting through the members of the physical body. in (Ro 6:12) Sin is personified as a king that seeks to "reign in your mortal body". In (Ro 6:14) Paul personifies sin as a "slave master" writing that "sin shall not be master over you". In sum, the "body of sin" is the physical body "sin" seeks to rule over or be master over.

Might be done away with (2673) (katargeo from kata = intensifies meaning + argeo = be idle from argos = ineffective, idle, inactive from  a = without + érgon = work) (Click for word study on katargeo) literally means to reduce to inactivity. The idea is to make the power or force of something ineffective and so to render powerless, reduce to inactivity. To do away with. To put out of use.  To cause to be idle or useless. To render entirely idle, inoperative or ineffective. Cause something to come to an end or cause it to cease to happen. To abolish or cause not to function. To free or release from an earlier obligation or relationship. To no longer take place.

Might be in the NAS is not intended to convey the possibility of doubt as if the body of sin might or might not be done away with. This phraseology is simply an idiomatic way of stating an already existing fact. In other words, our historical death to sin at the cross in Christ results in our sin being done away with.

Katargeo always denotes a nonphysical destruction by means of a superior force coming in to replace the force previously in effect, as e.g. light destroys darkness. Another example is recorded by John who writes that

"the one who practices (present tense = their habitual practice, as their lifestyle) sin is of the devil for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil." (1Jn 3:18)

One of best examples of Christ's "rendering powerless" the devil's works is found in Hebrews where we read that...

"Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless (katargeo) him who had the power of death, that is, the devil." (Heb 2:14)

Someone has written that katargeo is pictured by our well known English phrases like

"to pull the teeth out of," or "to declaw."

The body of sin's power has been once and for all made ineffective, rendered powerless (do you believe that beloved?) and deprived of its force. Note that both the NAS (done away with) and the KJV (“destroyed”) readings can at first glance suggest that our body of sin is completely eradicated, which is not what this verse is teaching. Paul is not saying that that the power of sin is destroyed or annihilated. Sin is still resident in every believer's physical body and this truth explains the ongoing struggle every believer experiences with sin.

In former times the indolence, appetites, necessities, and dangers of the body ruled us with an influence we could not resist; and led us into sin. We were born with or into a body of sin. But, now that our old self has been nailed to the cross of Christ, the power of sin over our body has been rendered inoperative. Sin in now a choice.

But katargeo (done away with) literally means “to render inoperative or invalid,” to make something ineffective by removing its power of control. That meaning is seen clearly in the term’s rendering in such other passages in Romans as 3:3, 31 (“nullify”), Ro 4:14 (“nullified”), Ro 7:2 (“released from”).

As every mature Christian learns, the more he grows in Christ, the more he becomes aware of sin in his life. In many places, Paul uses the terms body and flesh to refer to sinful propensities that are intertwined with physical weaknesses and pleasures (see, e.g., Ro 8:10-11, 13, 23). New birth in Christ brings death to the sinful self, but it does not bring death to the temporal flesh and its corrupted inclinations until the future glorification.

As Paul explains more fully in chap7 of this letter, a believer’s unredeemed humanness-of which he uses his own as example-remains with him until he is transformed to heavenly glory. And, as both Scripture and experience clearly teach, the remaining humanness somehow retains certain weaknesses and propensities to sin. The tyranny and penalty of sin both in and over the Christians life have been broken, but sires potential for expression in his life has not yet been fully removed. His human weaknesses and instincts make him capable of succumbing to Satan’s temptations when he lives apart from the Spirit’s Word and power. He is a new, redeemed, holy creation incarcerated in unredeemed flesh.

THAT WE SHOULD NO LONGER BE SLAVES TO SIN: tou meketi (no more) douleuein (PAN) emas te hamartia: (Ro 6:12,22; 7:25; 8:4; 2Ki 5:17; Isa 26:13; Jn 8:34-36)

We should no longer continually, habitually render a slave’s obedience to the sinful nature.

Be slaves (1398) (douleuo) (Click related word "bondservant" = doulos) means to fulfill the duties of a slave, for whom there was no choice either as to the kind or length of his service.

A slave does what the master (sin) tells him to do. Believers are no longer  slaves of sin. It is a "mechanical" impossibility because of the work of Christ on the Cross. Paul does not teach that a Christian is no longer capable of committing sin but that he no longer is under the compulsion and tyranny of sin, nor will he dutifully and habitually obey sin as he formerly did before he was saved by grace through faith.

The third great truth Paul gives in v6 about the old and new natures is that we should no longer be slaves to sin. Again, the translation leaves the meaning somewhat ambiguous. But as the apostle makes unequivocal a few verses later, “Thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (Ro 6:17-18). All the verbs in those two verses make clear that a believer’s slavery under sin has already been broken by Christ and is henceforth a thing of the past. Several verses later, Paul reiterates the truth that the believer’s new enslavement to righteousness is made possible because he is now enslaved to God (v22).

In other words, the immediate context of should no longer be slaves of sin carries the more precise-and extremely significant-meaning that believers can no longer be slaves of sin. As already noted, Paul does not teach that a Christian is no longer capable of committing sin but that he no longer is under the compulsion and tyranny of sin, nor will he dutifully and solely obey sin as he formerly did. For all genuine Christians, slavery to sin no longer exists.

FOR HE WHO HAS DIED: ho gar apothanon (AAPMSN):

When we died with Christ. His readers being very familiar with slavery, could easily comprehend that when a slave died he was freed from his master’s service. By analogy then when one has died to sin he is no longer the slave of sin & is freed from the service to sin.

IS FREED FROM SIN: dedikaiotai apo tes hamartias: (Ro 6:2,8; 7:2,4; 8:1 Col 3:1-3; 1Pet 4:1)

Freed (1344) (dikaioo is derived from the noun dike = righteousness) (Click for word study on dikaioo) defines the act by which a man is brought into a right state. Note that verbs which end in –óo generally indicate bringing out that which a person is or that which is desired, but not usually referring to the mode in which the action takes place. 

Note "freed" is in the perfect tense which describes a past action with a continuing effect or force and thus speaks of permanence of this condition. The believer has bee "freed" at a point in time in past (moment of salvation) continues in that state of freedom from sin (sin's power). Judicially speaking, Sin no longer has legal right or claim to force its mastery and control on a believer, for he has died with Christ.

Freed can mean either to be declared to be free from the old sinful nature (the power of sin) or acquitted from the guilt and penalty of sin (the penalty of sin).

The Amplified Version translates this verse

"For when a man dies, he is freed (loosed, delivered) from [the power of] sin [among men]."

This translation and the general truth of a believer's death to sin in Romans 6 is nicely paralleled in the story of Lazarus (John 11). Jesus raised him from the dead and then said,

“Loose him, and let him go” (John 11:44).

Lazarus left the grave, got rid of the grave clothes, and began a new life (see notes on Col 3:1ff.).

W E Vine has a lucid explanation of the  meaning of the passage "he that hath died is justified (freed, NAS) from sin" (KJV) writing that Paul is using dikaioo...

"...in the legal sense. There is no legitimate method of terminating sin’s claims except by death. Death both snaps all bonds and annuls all obligations. The statement of this verse covers the whole of the preceding argument and does not apply merely to the figure of bondage as just mentioned. The special reference is to the subject of crucifixion, the death penalty which Christ endured. Our identification with Christ, as the One who endured the penalty for us, removes the legal sentence from us and thereby delivers us from a condition of bondage to sin. There is both the removal of the penalty and the deliverance from the power. A corpse can neither be punished nor can it become subservient to the will of another." (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson)

Wuest adds that dikaioo usually means...

"to justify, to declare righteous, to render or make righteous, acquit of a charge, to absolve.” It is a term having to do with the law and the courts of law. In this sense Paul uses it in the section in Romans (Ro 3:21-5:11) where he deals with the doctrine of justification. But in Ro 6 he is presenting the doctrine of sanctification. Therefore, the idea of being “set free,” growing out of the idea that a justified person is set free from the penalty of the law, is used. The one, Paul says, who died off once for all from the sinful nature, has been set free completely from it, with the present result that he is in a state of permanent freedom from it (as depicted by the perfect tense), permanent in the sense that God has set him free permanently from it." (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Studies in the Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament: Grand Rapids: Eerdmans)

The believer is never completely freed from the possibility of sinning in this life (though he cannot habitually live in sin -- Ro 6:2), but he is justified from sin--that is, declared righteous in Christ.

When a criminal has been put to death,
the law has no further claim!
 

Paul is declaring when we were co-crucified with Christ we died, and that now that we are dead, we are legally free from sin as our master.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones offers a helpful illustration of the believer’s relation to his old sinful disposition (from his work "Romans: An Exposition of Chapter 6"). He pictures two adjoining fields, one owned by Satan and one owned by God, that are separa