And you [He made alive,] who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. Ephesians 2:1-3 (NKJV)
We were once dead in sin, held captive and ruled by it. But God made us alive in Christ when He raised Him from the dead. We are now alive in Righteousness. This is our new identity and location. It is a contradiction for us to go on conducting ourselves according to what we used to be but which we are not now. We used to be sinners walking in sin. But now we have been made righteous in Christ. We should now live as the righteous ones God has made us to be in Christ.
One way to depart from the former conduct is to always remind ourselves that we are no longer that old sinner, no longer that disobedient one. That one is dead. We are alive to Righteousness.
