Wesley Corpus

Again: “By the disobedience of one, the same, ‘many are constituted sinners. Therefore, when our Lord says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, he means, not only that we and our parents are ‘mortal, but that all man kind derive spiritual as well as temporal death from their first father.” “1. SIN is “a transgression of the law;’ of that law of God to which a rational creature is subject. “Righteousness’ is a fulfilment of, or conformity to, that law. This is the proper scriptural sense of the words. But as sin involves the creature in guilt, that is, a liableness to punishment, the same words are often used to denote either sin itself, or guilt and punishment. On the other hand, righteousness denotes, not only a fulfilling of the law, but also a freedom from guilt and punishment; yea, and sometimes all the rewards of righteousness.” (Pages 1,2...) “Accordingly, to impute sin, is either to impute sin itself, or guilt on the account of it. To impute sin itself to a person, is to account him a transgressor of the law, to pronounce him such, or to treat him as a transgressor. To impute guilt to a person, is to account him obnoxious to a threatened punish ment, to pronounce him so, or to inflict that punishment. So, to impute righteousness, properly so called, is to account him a fulfiller of the law, to pronounce him so to be, and to treat him as righteous. And to impute righteousness, as opposed to guilt, is to account, to pronounce, and to treat him as guiltless. “Thus much is agreed. But the point in question is, “Does God impute no sin or righteousness but what is per sonal?” Dr. Taylor positively asserts, he does not. I under take to prove that he does; that he imputes Adam’s first sin to all mankind, and our sins to Christ.” (Page 5.) “l. God imputes Adam’s first sin to all mankind. I do not mean that the actual commission of it was imputed to any beside himself; (it was impossible it should;) nor is the guilt of it imputed to any of his descendants, in the full latitude of it, or in regard to its attendant circumstances. It consti tutes none of them equally guilty with him.