As Paul continues his exposition and elaboration on the fact that we have been united to Christ in his death and resurrection, Paul turns from considering what it means to have died with Christ, to what it means to live unto Christ. In this, Paul invites us to consider that, in our union with Christ, we have been brought up into the life of the Triune God and are made alive by this. With this reality in mind, Paul gives his first commands to the Roman church, as he instructs them on what it means to live in Christ. He calls us to consider and know the reality that because we are alive in Christ, we are dead to sin. He also calls us to live in that life by putting off our past sin and presenting ourselves as living instruments of God’s righteousness. This life and our ability to live as we have been called is only possible through our union with Christ, as by the grace of God and working of the Holy Spirit within us, we are enabled to live out these commands of Paul.