1) in the death of Christ we died; 2) in the death of Christ we were bought; 3) in the death of Christ we were forgiven. And in each of these cases, a power is unleashed from the cross that expresses itself through our volitional attack on sin. In other words, in each of these three cases, the way the cross becomes effective in our conquering cancelled sin is by empowering our will to oppose sin in our lives. 1. In the death of Christ we died. “We have been united with him in a death like his” (Romans