The new life is life "in Christ." The word "in" does not in this connection speak of location, such as "in an automobile," but carries the idea of union.
We are in union with Christ. Through Him we are dead to the Law, having been identified with Him in His death and resurrection.
On the resurrection side of this experience we have His life. He has come to live in us. It is this that marks the real difference between the old life prior to our salvation and the new life now that we are saved.
It is necessary before the believer can enjoy victory in Christ for the power of the old life to be broken. This is accomplished through union with Christ in His crucifixion. This is not an experience that we must struggle to enter into now. It was accomplished for us in the past.
The King James Version is not clear on this point. The American Standard Version of 1901 will help us here. The expression "I am crucified with Christ" is translated in the ASV: "I have been crucified with Christ."
God got rid of the old self-life by crucifying it. We were separated from the old self-life when we died with Christ.
That this is a past transaction is clearly demonstrated from Romans 6. In verse 2 Paul says, "We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein?" (ASV).
In the third verse the apostle says, "Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?"(KJV) Here the verbs are clearly in the past tense and describe the finished transaction.
"And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts" (Gal. 5:24).