But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus...  Ephesians 2:4-6

The most important truth in all of Christianity is stated right here: We are made alive together with Christ. Notice that Paul says with Christ three times: We are made alive with Christ. We are raised up with Christ. We are made to sit with Him. He has joined Himself to us, and we are one person with Him. That is the most important fact to build all the rest of your Christian faith and experience--this great, tremendous statement that we are made alive with Jesus Christ.

Remember what the Lord taught?  He said, "I am the vine; you are the branches." (John 15:5) Can you tell where the branch ends and the vine starts? No. They are one plant, sharing one life together. So from here on our identity is no longer in Adam but it is in Christ. We’re not just ordinary human beings. We are new creations, linked with the life of Jesus Christ.  The whole work of the enemy is to get you to disbelieve that and to go back to thinking that you are just an ordinary individual, struggling through life, trying to make it the best way you can.  Any time you believe that, you go right back to acting as you once did. You escape that only when you come back to this central truth--we are alive in Jesus Christ!

Did you notice that all the verbs in this passage are in the past tense? This has happened. It has already occurred when you believed in Jesus Christ. We were made alive in Jesus Christ. We cannot be the same again. Even if we try, we won't be able to. I say sometimes to people who get discouraged with their Christian life; well, quit then, go back, try not to be a Christian. They can't do it, and they know they can't, because they are new creatures, made alive in Jesus Christ. Live Alive!