It is like if there were a prison sentence for robbing a bank, and I was a bank manager whose bank had been robbed. The person who robbed my bank could meet me afterwards, say sorry, and be totally forgiven by me. But the law would still require that person to go to prison for robbing the bank. The consequences still have to be lived out.
And it is the same with a Christian. They have to die, because that is the consequence of sin. But as far as God is concerned, that death is not the end. Because they have been united to Jesus, they will go to heaven when they die, not to hell. Their body will remain here, but their soul will go to heaven.
