We have died (599) (apothnesko from apo = marker of dissociation implying a rupture from a former association,  separation, departure, cessation + thnesko = die) literally means to die off and can speak of physical death but in this context speaks figuratively (metaphorically) of a believer's death to sin.

Have died is aorist tense which means that this event happened in the past at a point in time. When a person chooses to turn to Christ and turn away from sin, they die! 

Click here for more in depth discussion of "apothnesko" in the exposition of Paul's rhetorical question in Romans 6:2 (see note "how shall we who died (apothnesko) to sin still live in it.")

Paul now goes on in these next 3 verses to explain additional benefit of our union with Christ in His death. Here he explains a truth the natural mind cannot comprehend, that since we died with Christ, we shall now & in the future live with Christ.

With (4862) (sun click for note on meaning) speaks of intimate union.

Parenthetically, as an aside, it is interesting that although we have died once for all with Christ at Calvary (as appropriated by faith), Jesus still calls us to take up our cross (a picture of suffering and death) daily (Lu 9:23) as does Paul (Col 3:5), these latter exhortations equating with present tense, everyday experience of salvation ( ~ sanctification). In this verse in Ro 6:8 Paul is teaching us the truth that we died with Christ in the past and this death is a once for all experience that has positioned us in Christ and enables us to carry out the daily call to death to our old self's lusts (but this too is appropriated "by faith" see note Colossians 2:6).

WE BELIEVE THAT WE SHALL ALSO LIVE WITH HIM: pisteuomen (1PPAI) hoti kai suzesomen (1PFAI) auto: (Jn 14:19; 2Cor 4:10-14; 13:4; Col 3:3,4; 1Th 4:14-17)

“Now, in view of the fact that we died off with Christ, we  believe (dogmatically) that we will also live with Him.”

Believe (4100) (pisteuo) means to be persuaded to the point that it alters the way one lives. Further, the present tense, indicates that this is the habit of a believer's life, their continual attitude. Practically, this means that what a person says they understand this truth about their "death and life with Christ", then they will allow the truth to set them free and to control their lives. Why do I say that? Because that is what "believe" means. It pictures one giving himself or herself over to truth, throwing their full weight upon it as it were. Beloved, do you believe you have died with Him and shall live with Him? Do the choices you are making today show that you truly believe?

In regard to "we believe", Wayne Barber adds that

"What do we believe? We believe we have been justified. We believe we have died to the sin with Him. We believe we have been baptized into His death. We believe we have been raised to walk in the newness of His life in us. We are believing this very moment, every day. Every day that I live I have to believe (adhere to, allow it to affect me) that Christ’s life is in me and that’s what enables me to keep my life free from sin day by day. If I do sin, that’s what convicts me so that I can bring it back to the cross and confess it. Suddenly we see that sin is what He had to die for, and our relationship to sin changes. So we are believing something every day, holding on to it, giving in to it, allowing it to affect us."

"WITH HIM"
UNION WITH CHRIST

Live with (4800) (suzao from sún = together or with + záo = live) means to live with. The preposition "sun" means with in the sense of "in union with" and thus is used to denote a more intimate relationship of Jesus Christ with us then the corresponding preposition "meta" which also means with. To illustrate, the criminals punished with Jesus were both crucified with (meta) Him or in His company. One of these thieves was not crucified together with (sún) Him, bound up and in union with Him, while the other thief was in fact crucified in union with Him. (see Lu 23:43-44)

Wayne Barber writes that

"we will live with Him. He is the essence of everything that we are. Think about that for a second. The Holy life of God has somehow been intertwined into my life. He lives in me! That’s the whole idea that Paul is trying to get across. When you start talking about turning away from sin and living holy, you've got to remember the holy, divine presence of God lives in you."

Zao is the essence of life so the verb combination suzao speaks of an intimate connection and conveys the picture that we have been entwined with the essence of Christ's (resurrected) life! We are identified with Him and because of His resurrection we share in and can experience the resurrection life of Jesus (walk in newness of life). Christ lives in us in the Person of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. His life is in us. We can now walk in a completely new way of life. We believe this and are persuaded by it to the point that we are enabled and willing to alter our lifestyle (empowered even in this act by His grace - He gives us the "want to").

“We hold it as an article of our faith, that we shall be alive with Christ. As He was raised up from death, so we shall be raised from the death of sin. As He lives, so we shall live in holiness. We are in fact raised up here, and, as it were, made alive to Him." (Barnes Notes on the NT)

Future tense can be used to express and the context of Ro6 is HOLY LIVING which would support the premise that Paul is using the future tense here to express the certainty of our life with Christ which alone makes HOLY LIVING even a possibility. It should be noted that a few conservative commentaries hold the future tense to be strictly a reference to our future life (eg, Expositor's Bible Commentary feels this refers solely to our "future bodily resurrection").

John MacArthur writes that

"The assurance that we shall also live with Him obviously applies to the believer’s ultimate and eternal presence with Christ in heaven. But the context, which focuses on holy living, strongly suggests that Paul is here speaking primarily about our living with Him in righteousness in this present life. In Greek, as in English, future tenses often carry the idea of certainty." (MacArthur, J: Romans 1-8. Chicago: Moody Press) (Bolding added)

With Him means that "we will live with respect to Him".  At the moment of believing is Christ, new life imparted to the believer . The idea is that we live by means of Him. Sin’s dominion over us has been shattered. We share Christ’s resurrection life here and now. And we shall share it for all eternity, praise His Holy Name! Paul is not speaking so much of of the believer’s fellowship with Christ here or in eternity but of the source of our spiritual life from and in Christ. How long do we derive spiritual life from the Lord Jesus? As long as He lives. Paul says He died once for all, and that death over Him will never again exercise lordship. Thus, the believer will be sustained in spiritual life for time and eternity, since Christ is his life.

Paul wrote to the saints at Philippi that

"For to me, to live [is] Christ, and to die [is] gain." (see note Philippians 1:21) 

The Greek phrase contains no verb (no [is]) and literally reads “to live Christ, to die gain.” Paul knew that living is Christ. As someone has said "Life is what we are alive to". For Paul the answer is not what but Whom - to him Christ was the essence of his life and real living. Is He really your reason for living, beloved?

To the Galatians Paul wrote

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me." (Gal 2:20)

In Paul's experience faith in Christ Crucified has thoroughly replaced confidence in whatever he might have been able to accomplish by means of the Law or works.

MacDonald commenting on (Gal 2:20) writes that

"The believer is identified with Christ in His death. Not only was He crucified on Calvary, I was crucified there as well—in Him. This means the end of me as a sinner in God’s sight. It means the end of me as a person seeking to merit or earn salvation by my own efforts. It means the end of me as a child of Adam, as a man under the condemnation of the law, as my old, unregenerate self. The old, evil “I” has been crucified; it has no more claims on my daily life. This is true as to my standing before God; it should be true as to my behavior. The believer does not cease to live as a personality or as an individual. But the one who is seen by God as having died is not the same one who lives. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. The Savior did not die for me in order that I might go on living my life as I choose. He died for me so that from now on He might be able to live His life in me. The life which I now live in this human body, I live by faith in the Son of God. Faith means reliance or dependence. The Christian lives by continual dependence on Christ, by yielding to Him, by allowing Christ to live His life in him. Thus the believer’s rule of life is Christ and not the law. It is not a matter of striving, but of trusting. He lives a holy life, not out of fear of punishment, but out of love to the Son of God, who loved him and gave Himself for him. Have you ever turned your life over to the Lord Jesus with the prayer that His life might be manifest in your body?" (Bolding added. MacDonald, W. Believer's Bible Commentary: Nashville: Thomas Nelson)

Paul wrote to the Colossians that
 

"When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory." (see note Colossians 3:4)

It was no longer Paul that lived this life but Christ in Him living His life through him. So we cannot continue in sin because we have His life within us. Mark it down as true beloved: Christ does not merely give life. He is life. The key to living the risen life, the "Christ life", is to have a life centered on Christ Himself. The Son, not this present world, is the center of the believer’s universe, now and throughout eternity!

Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote that...
 

Knowing (1492 ) (eido or oida) means to see with perception and generally  signifies a clear and purely mental perception. It indicates an absolute, positive, beyond a peradventure of a doubt, knowledge.

Eido is not the word for experientially knowing (ginosko). Eido is the word for intuitive knowing. I just know it! Nobody had to teach me. Eido was found in the papyri to describe a theory or hypothesis which had been confirmed. In the present context eido speaks about that knowledge every believer knows as a result of and only in view of their relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ. There are certain things that human beings simply cannot know intuitively unless they become the children of God.

The perfect tense indicates that we came to know these truths at a point in time (when we were born again) and we still know these truths about His death. We are "in a permanent state of knowing" because of what happened in the past.

Jesus defeated physical death and the believer never needs to fear death again. We live daily with no fear of dying because we know that Christ has conquered death. Death can no longer be master over us.

IS NEVER TO DIE AGAIN DEATH NO LONGER IS MASTER OVER HIM:  ouketi apothneskei (3SPAI) thanatos autou ouketi kurieuei (3SPAI): (Ro 6:14; 5:14; Heb 2:14,15)

Never (3765) (ouketi from ouk = not, expressing direct and full negation, independently and absolutely, and hence, objectively + éti = yet, still) refers to a complete and permanent change. In the sense of an extension of time, ouketi means up to a point but not beyond. No more, no further, no longer! This is good news indeed. It is interesting that Paul did not use mekéti  the other Greek word which means "no longer", but in a less absolute negative sense than ouketi.

Death (2288) (thanatos) physically refers to the final separation of one's soul from their body. Physical death is the primary meaning of thanatos in this passage. Death equates with separation. Jesus absolutely defeated physical death on the Cross and He can never die and His life is now my life. Therefore, I have now have eternal life in Him. We can never die in that sense. Physical death may take place but the moment it takes place, immediately we are in the presence of our Lord (2Cor 5:8). As believers we never have to face the fear of death because Jesus has conquered death.

Wayne Barber adds that

 "When Lazarus died, one tear streamed down Jesus' face, but when He saw Jerusalem, which had rejected Him, many tears flowed down His face. We cry at the wrong things, folks! Death is a piece of cake. He has defeated death. The death that was attached to the sin has now been overcome. Death will not reign over me. Death will not reign over you. How do I know that? Because He lives forever! His life is my life, and I live forever with Him. How many Christians are not believing, so therefore, they are not knowing?...Don’t you intuitively know it? Don’t fear death! He conquered death." (Romans 6:6-11 The New Life in Christ (Pt2)

Is master (2961) (verb kurieuo from noun kúrios = master - power of control rather than physical strength) means to rule or have dominion over. To be lord of or exercise lordship over. Scripture personifies various things which control human life including law, sin and death. Note the present tense speaks of continually lordship of death over non-believers.

Everyone has a master, either "Sin" (along with death and the law) or Jesus Christ. Resurrection freed Jesus from the possibility of death, both physical and spiritual. The saving results of His death and resurrection are sure forever. Christ's victory has been accomplished once for all. And since we died with Him, death is no longer master over us. Praise His Name forever!

Are you afraid to die? Then lay hold of this great truth. Eat it. Assimilate it. Then live it out as an act of worship. You are freed from the fear of death. Hallelujah! Death is for the believer the doorway through which we are instantly transported into the presence of Jesus Christ. He conquered physical death and His life is in us so death can no longer reign over us. Hebrews agrees writing that

"Since then the children share (koinonia  - fellowship, communion, partnership, have a share in common) in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise (more literally = alongside and nearby ~ in like manner) also partook (metecho = literally to hold with) of the same (of human nature but without its sin), that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives." (Heb 2:14,15)

Wuest comments that
 

Don't misunderstand this passage. Jesus did not sin. He lived a perfect sinless life. In whatever way He died to sin we died to sin. He died to the penalty of sin, meeting sin's legal demands. He did not die as a sinner but took sin upon Himself to die for mankind,

"For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." (see note Romans 8:3; 8:4)

God "made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."  (2Co 5:21)

So now believers are free from the penalty of sin the moment they place their faith in Christ and His substitutionary death, burial and resurrection.

It is interesting that the Jewish teachers believed that the “evil impulse” would trouble even the most pious until the time of the Messiah, when the evil impulse would be slain!

Paul says the Messiah has come and sin’s power has been rendered inoperative! This is a fact not an experience...the experience comes later. In the famous old hymn "Rock of Ages" there is a somewhat enigmatic phrase

"be for sin the double cure saved from wrath and made me sure"

The writer may have had in mind the truth Paul unveils in Romans - the first "cure" referring to Christ saving us from the penalty of sin and the second "cure" referring to His saving us from the power of sin.

Barnes draws a practical application writing that

"The design of his death was to destroy sin; to make an atonement for it, and thus to put it away. As his death was designed to effect this, so it follows that Christians being baptized into his death, and having it as their object to destroy sin, should not indulge in it. The whole force of the motive; therefore, drawn from the death of Christ, is to induce Christians to forsake sin." (Barnes, A. Barnes' Notes on the NT)

Thus Paul writes that Christ

"died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf." (2Co 5:15)

As he defended his integrity to the Corinthians, Paul wanted them to know that his old, self-centered life was finished and that he had an all-out desire to live righteously. For all genuine believers, their death in Christ is not only a death to sin, but a resurrection to a new life of righteousness.

Denny writes that

"In dying our death, Christ has done for us something so immense in love, that we ought to be His, and only His for ever. To make us His is the very object of His death." (Denny. Second Corinthians, Page 199) 

MacDonald adds that

"Christ did not die for us so that we might go on living our own petty, selfish lives the way we want to live them. Rather He died for us so that we might henceforth turn over our lives to Him in willing, glad devotion." (MacDonald, W. Believer's Bible Commentary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson)

Wayne Barber adds that there are two aspects of Christ's death to sin:

 "One, He died to the penalty of sin and it is no longer affecting us because the penalty for the sin of Adam and his race was death. So He came under the race of Adam, under the Law, went to the cross, bore our sin upon Himself, and now that He is dead, that death is gone, and when we put our faith into Him, that death never bothers us anymore. That ‘s the penalty of sin. But then secondly, He died to the power of sin. When He rose, He rose victorious over anything that sin could ever do over you and me. When His life is in us, that’s how we live daily—with victory!"

ONCE FOR ALL: ephapax:

Ephapax (