When did believers die, if we are still alive now?
Believers died in the mind of God on the cross of Calvary, when Christ died. This is a substitutionary death in the person of Christ. Though they remain physically alive, as Paul wrote Galatians while living, they have been crucified with Christ and are now to present their bodies a living sacrifice.
Les teaches that the death believers now die is a substitutionary death in the person of Christ. He points to Paul, who wrote in Galatians, 'I've been crucified,' yet was alive writing the book. In the same way, believers have died—put to death in the mind of God on the cross of Calvary; they died when Christ died. But they are alive, and it is their duty, not a command, in light of all God has done, to present their bodies a living sacrifice, saying, 'Lord, here am I, use me.' Les illustrates this by comparing our spiritual state to being stark naked before God with no hope of help, emphasizing that we contribute nothing.
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: