Wesley Corpus

Let the reader please to read the whole passage very carefully. The Apostle here discourses of Adam and Christ as two representatives or public persons, comparing the ‘sin’ of the one, with the ‘righteousness’ of the other.” (Page 66.) “On this I observe, (1.) The ‘one man, spoken of through out, is Adam, the common head of mankind: And to him (not to the devil or Eve) the Apostle ascribes the introduction of ‘sin’ and ‘death. The devil was the first sinner, and Eve, seduced by him, sinned before her husband. Yet the Apostle saith, “By one man sin entered into the world; through the offence of one many are dead; the judgment was by one to con demnation; death reigned by one. By the offence of one, judgment came upon all men; by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners.” Now, why should the Apostle lay all this on Adam, whose sin was posterior both to the devil’s and Eve's, if Adam was not appointed by God the federal head of mankind? In regard to which the Apostle points at him singly, as the type or ‘figure of Him that was to come.’ According to Dr. Taylor’s doctrine, he should rather have said, ‘By the devil sin entered into the world;’ or, ‘Through the disobedience of Eve, many were made sinners. But, instead of this he fixes on our first father alone, as bringing sin and death on all his posterity.” (Page 67.) “(2.) ‘The sin, transgression, offence, disobedience, here spoken of, was Adam’s eating the forbidden fruit. It is remark able, that as the Apostle throughout his discourse arraigns one man only, so he ascribes all the mischief done to one single offence of that one man. And as he then stood in that special relation of federal as well as natural head to his descendants, soupon his committing that one sin, this special relation ceased. “(3.) The ‘all, (verses 12, 18,) and the ‘many,’ (verses 15, 19,) are all the natural descendants of Adam; equivalent with ‘the world, (verse 12,) which means the inhabitants of it.” (Page 69.) “(4.) The effects of Adam's sin on his descendants, the Apos tlereduces to two heads, sin and death.