Elsewhere Paul used the expression “to die to” not only with reference to the law but also in relation to the self, sin, and the world.192 In each of these cases Paul meant that his relationship to these entities—self, sin, world, law—had been so decisively altered by his union with Christ that they no longer control, dominate, or define his existence. By saying that he died to the law “through the law” Paul is anticipating his later discussion of the provisional role of the law in the history of