Past vs Present

It' not always clear to some what is past in Scripture. Perhaps this will help.

A Look at the "past and present" in the Scripture:
a.. In God's reckoning, the work of the cross was once and for all finished. We should always make this distinction. When we reckon upon Christ's death for ourselves and our death with Him, we use the past tense, saying with Paul: "I have been crucified..." "Our old man was crucified..." "Reckon yourselves... to be dead..." In these and many other instances, Paul pictures our union as being "together with Him" in the past. We were and continually are delivered from sin's guilt and power by reckoning on our identification with the finished work of Christ on the cross. There is a finality in this and we are to reckon on it as a past and finished work.
b.. There are some who confuse this with another of Paul's statements and assure us that we are called upon to "die daily" to sin. NO! A THOUSAND TIMES NO! Paul insists that we are "dead to sin." From the time of our first knowledge of Christ's redemptive work, and our appropriation by reckoning it as ours, we have been "dead to sin." In any dispute with our friends, our enemy or the uprising of the flesh, we reckon it to be so from the time of our first reckoning. It is always past! Finished!
c.. When Paul said, "I die daily," he was not saying that we are called to die daily to sin. It is just at this point many confuse the "work" of the cross to be the "way" of the cross. The "work" of the cross is a past tense reality that we reckon upon. The "way" of the cross is a present tense reality that we share with Christ continually.
d.. Jesus, as the last Adam entered the world and embraced the "way" of the cross. He said, "If an man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" [Luke 9:23]. This is often misused by "Christians" to teach that by some measure of self-discipline a person can put the old self to death by a daily denial. This is utterly frustrating to the grace of God! We must keep these two aspects of truth in their proper place. Two different men are involved. The Lord Jesus identified Himself with the human race, enfolding believers in Himself and taking all into the tomb. Now, God reckons that believers are dead through the "work" of the cross and buried "in Him." This was the end of the Adamic race. This made the Lord Jesus as "the last Adam." At Calvary, believers arose from the dead and are alive in the Lord Jesus, who is also spoken of as the second Man. All those that are in "the second man" are a new creation -- a completely "new man."