Christians get increasingly despondent when they believe that sin is here to stay. When we believe we are powerless against sin (we can't stop!), we despair and let sin just reign over us. Paul is offering a whole new way of looking at yourself in light of the gospel. We need to shift our mindset to believe God and not ourselves. God says that true reality is that we are dead to sin and alive to God. Without this core conviction, the Christian will never live into Life in the Spirit.