Wesley Corpus

And it is not only a bodily death that is here spoken of; for it stands opposed, not to a bare revival of the body, but to a happy and glorious resurrection, such as ‘they that are Christ’s’ will partake of at his second coming For of this resurrection, not that of the ungodly, the Apostle is speaking throughout this chapter. But they could not “die in Adam, if they did not in some sense sin in him, and fall with him; if the covenant had not been made with him, not for himself only, but for all his posterity.” (Pages 35, 36.) “3. From verses 45 and 47 of the same chapter. The ‘first man, Adam, and ‘the second Man, the last Adam, are here opposed. Now, why is Christ, notwithstanding the millions of men intervening between Adam and him, and following after his birth, called ‘the second Man, and ‘the last Adam?' We have an answer, Rom. v. 12, 14, &c., where Adam is said to be ‘a figure of Christ; and the resemblance between them is shown to lie in this,--that as ‘sin’ and ‘death’ descend from one, so ‘righteousness’ and ‘life.” from the other. Consequently, what Christ is with regard to all his spiritual seed, that Adam is with regard to all his natural descendants; namely, a public person, a federal head, a legal representative: One with whom the covenant was made, not only for himself, but also for his whole posterity.” “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John iii. 5, 6. “IN this text we have,-- “I. The new birth described; “II. The necessity of it insisted on; “III. The original corruption of every child of Adam ob served, as that from which the necessity of such a change arises. “I. The new birth is here described. Whatever this im plies, the Spirit of God is the sole author of it. He does not help a man to regenerate himself, but takes the work into his own hands. A child of God, as such, is ‘not born of blood;’ does not become so by descent from pious parents.