When does Christ place the new divine nature in a person?
Christ places the new divine nature in a person at salvation. When the old Adam is crucified, God immediately replaces him with the new nature—the divine nature that comes from God by a creative work. This replacement occurs at the moment of salvation, so the believer is not left an empty entity.
Les explains that in chapter 7, Paul deals with the same issue: how believers handle old Adam versus the new divine nature that Christ places in us at salvation. When Adam is crucified, something had to immediately replace him, or we would be an empty entity. God does replace old Adam with the new nature, the divine nature that comes from God by a creative work. This happens at salvation. Les also notes that law has dominion over a person only as long as he lives, using the illustration of American constitutional law ending at death, to show that death severs certain bonds.