These Sections teach us what were the consequences of the first sin to the descendants of its authors. In doing so our standards affirm —

1st. That Adam was both the natural and federal head of all mankind. Conf. Faith, ch. vii., § 2, and L. Cat., Qs. 22, 25, and S. Cat., Qs. 16, 18.

2d. That consequently the guilt or liability to the penal consequences of that sin was imputed, charged to the account of, and at their birth actually inflicted upon all men.

3d. That consequenMy the moral corruption which

results from the penal withdrawing of God's Holy Spirit in the case of our first parents, is necessarily conveyed to all those of their descendants who are produced through ordinary generation.

4th. This innate hereditary depravity of soul is total, for by it we are utterly indisposed, disabled and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to evil.

5th. From this innate moral depravity proceed all subsequent actual transgressions.

1st. Adam was both the natural and federal head of all mankind, Christ of course excepted.

The nature and provisions of that covenant which God made with Adam will be considered in its appropriate place. Chapter viii., § 2. The point which demands our attention here is, that, in making that covenant with Adam, God constituted him and treated with him as the moral representative of all his natural descendants. This is very explicitly taught in our standards. Conf. Faith, ch. viii., § 2 : " The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works, wherein life was promised to Adam, and in him to his posterity, upon condition of perfect and personal obedience." L. Cat., Q. 22 : " The covenant being made with Adam as a public person, not for himself only, but for all his posterity, all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation sinned in him and fell with him, in his first transgression.'' S. Cat., Q. 16 : ''The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity, all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation sinned in him and fell with him in his first transgression.'*

As we have seen, it is God's general method of dealing with new-created moral agents to create them holy,

yet capable of falling, and then to put them on trial for a time, making their confirmed and permanent moral character and destiny to depend upon their own action. In the case of the angels, who were severally created independent individuals, they appear to have stood their trial severally, each in his own person. Some fell, and some were confirmed in holiness and blessedness. But in the case of a race to be propagated in a series, each individual to come into existence an unintelligent infant, thence to develop gradually into moral agency, like that of mankind, it is obvious that one of three plans must be adopted : (a.) The whole race must be confirmed in holiness and happiness without any probation. (6.) Each individual must stand his own probation while groping his way from infancy into childhood, (c.) Or the whole race must have their trial in their natural head and root, Adam. We are not in a condition to judge of the propriety of the first of these plans, but we can easily see that the third is incomparably more rational, righteous and merciful than the second.

As a matter of fact, God did make our character and destiny to depend upon the conduct of Adam in his probation. This was right — (a.) Because, as sovereign Creator and infinitely wise, righteous and merciful Guardian of the interests of all his creatures, it seemed right in his eyes. (6.) Because it was more to oui* advantage than any other plan that can be imagined. Adam was most advantageously constituted and circumstanced in order that he should stand the trial safely. Incalculable benefits as well as risks were suspended upon his ju-tion. If he had maintained his integrity for a limited [)criod, all his race would have been born into an indefeasible

inheritance of glory, (c.) Because the covenant headship of Adam is part of a glorious constitution which culminates in the covenant headship of Christ.

That Adam was, as our standards say, "a public person," and that the covenant was made with him " not only for himself, but for all his posterity," is proved from the facts —

(1.) That he was called by a generic name, Adam — the Man.

(2.) That everything that God commanded, promised or threatened him related to his descendants as much as to himself personally. Thus, '^obedience," "a cursed earth,'' " the reign of death," painful child-bearing," and the subsequent promise of redemption through the seed of the woman, were spoken with reference to us as much as with reference to our first parents.

(3.) As a matter of fact, the very penalty denounced and executed upon Adam has been executed upon all of his descendants, from birth upward. All are born spiritually dead, "by nature children of wrath." Also, from the fact that —

2d. The guilt of that sin is imputed to all his descendants, and the penalty executed upon them at their birth.

By the word "guilt" is meant, not the personal disposition which prompted the act, nor the personal moral ])ollution which resulted from it, but simply the just liability to the punishment which that sin deserved.

By the term " impute " is meant to lay to the charge or credit of any one as a ground of judicial punishment or justification. This is the sense in which the phrase "to impute sin or righteousness" is used in the Bible.

FALL OF MAN, SIN AND ITS PUJSI&HMENT. 157

" David describeth the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works, ... to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Faith was imputed to Abraham for righteousness/' Rom. iv. 3-9. " God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.'' 2 Cor. v. 19. Our standards expressly affirm that the " guilt," or just liability to the penalty, of Adam's apostatizing act is by God " imputed" or judicially laid to the charge of each of his natural descendants. Conf. Faith, ch. vi., §3: "This sin was imputed . . . to all their posterity." In L. Cat., Q. 26, and S. Cat., Q. 17, "the sinfulness of that estate into which the fall brought mankind" is declared to include each of the following elements : **(a) the guilt of Adam^ s first sin, (b) the want of original righteousness, (c) the corruption of the whole nature, which is commonly called original sin, together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it." The reason which our standards give for this judicial charging the punishableness of Adam's first sin to all his posterity is, that they really ^^ sinned in him in his first transgression,'' L. Cat., Q. 22; S. Cat., Q. 16; since he acted as " a public person," and the covenant was made with him " not for himself alone, but for all his posterity." L. Cat., Q. 22 ; S. Cat., Q. 16. That is, Adam, by a divine constitution, so represented and acted for all his posterity that they are fairly responsible for his s|3tion, and are worthy of punishment on account of it. Since their destiny, as well as his ow-n, was suspended upon Adam's action, since they were justly to have part in his reward if he was faithful, so they justly have part in his punishment for his unfaithfulnesd.

The Articles of the Synod of Dort affirm that moral depravity is inflicted upon all the descendants of Adam at birth "6y the just judgment of God.^' Ch. iii., § 2. This is also explicitly taught in Scripture. Paul teaches in Rom. V. 12-21, (o) that the law of death, spiritual and physical, under which we are born, is a consequent of Adam's public disobedience ; and (6) that it is a "judg^ mentj^ a " condemnation " — that is, a penal consequent of Adam's sin. " Therefore, as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation^' (c.) That the punishment of Adam's sin comes upon us upon the same principle upon which the righteousness of Christ is charged to the account of those who believe on him : " Therefore, as by the oifence of one judgment came upon alJ men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.'' But the righteousness of Christ is imputed without works," Rom. iv. 6, before, and as the necessary condition of, good dispositions or actions upon our part. So the guilt of Adam's sin is imputed to his posterity without personal works of their own, before, and as the cause of, their loss of original righteousness and acquisition of original sin. The only sin of Adam which the Confession says was "imputed" to his descendants, and the sin of his which they assert we "sinned in him," was his first sin or apostatizing act. The manifest reason of this is that he represented us, and we are responsible for him only in his trial for character and destiny. His first sin, by incurring the penalty, necessarily and instantly closed his probation and ours, and he immediately became a private person.

The penalty denounced upon Adam and those whom

he represented in his trial was the judicial withdrawment of the life-giving influences of the Holy Ghost, and the inevitably consequent moral and physical death. Hence every new-created soul comes into existence judicially excluded from the life-giving influences of the Holy Spirit, and hence morally and spiritually dead. Other actual sins and miseries in time occur as the natural consequence of this birth-punishment. But the Scriptures and our own consciousness also affirm that these actual transgressions are our own personal sins, and that all the temporal and eternal punishments we suffer are on account of them.

3d. It hence follows, that if the guilt of Adam's apostasy is charged to all his natural descendants, and the Holy Spirit consequently judicially withdrawn from them at their birth, the same moral corruption which ensued from the same cause in the case of our first parents must, from their birth, follow in their descendants also. Of this "corrupted nature" this Section proceeds to say :

4th. That " by it we are utterly indisposed, disabled and made opposite to all good and inclined to all evil ;" and,

5th. From this original corruption of nature proceed all actual transgressions.

It is here taught (1) that all men sin from the commencement of moral agency.

(2.) That back of this their nature is morally corrupt, indisposed to all good and inclined to all evil.

(3.) That this moral corruption is so radical and inveterate that men are by nature " disabled" with respect to right moral action.

(4.) That this condition is innate from birth and by nature.

This representation agrees (1) with universal experience. All the children of men, of all ages, nations and circumstances, and however educated, invariably sin as soon as they become capable of moral action. A universal fact must have a cause universally present. This can only be found in the common depravity of our natures.

(2.) With all the teachings of Scripture, (a.) It declares that all men are sinners. Rom. i, ii, and iii. 1-19. (b.) That sinful actions proceed from sinful hearts or dispositions. Matt. XV. 19 ; Luke vi. 43-45. (c.) That the disposition which prompts to sinful action is " sin," a moral corruption. Kom. vi. 12, 14, 17 ; vii. 5-17; Gal. v. 17, 24; Eph. iv. 18, 19. (d.) That this corruption involves moral and spiritual blindness of mind, as well as hardness of heart and vile affections. 1 Cor. ii. 14, 15 ; Eph. iv. 18. (e.) That this moral corruption and prevailing tendency to sin is in our nature from birth. Ps. Ii. 5; Eph. ii. 3; John iii. 6. (/.) That men in their natural state are ^'dead" in trespasses and sins. Eph. ii. 1 ; John iii. 14. And (g) that consequently they can be restored by no ^'change of purpose'^ nor " moral reformation'^ upon their part, but only by an act of almighty power called " a new birth," " a new creation," "a begetting," "a quickening from the dead." Eph. iv. 24; ii. 5, 10; John iii. 3 ; 1 John v. 18.

What the Confession teaches of man's sinful inability to do right, in consequence of the depravity of his nature, will be considered under its appropriate head, in Chapter ix.

These sections point out the consequences of the sin of our first parents in regard to their posterity. These consequences are restricted to those " descending from them by ordinary generation." This restriction is obviously introduced in order to exclude our Lord Jesus Christ, who, as man, was one of the posterity of Adam, but did not descend from him by ordinary generation. The genealogy of Christ is traced up to Adam (Luke iii. 38), but his human nature was supernaturally framed in the womb of the Virgin, by the power of the Holy Ghost. — Luke i. 35. In his birth, therefore, as well as in his life, he was " holy, harmless, undefiled, and separated from sinners." But the effects of Adam's first transgression extend to all his natural posterity ; and, according to our Confession, the guilt of this sin is imputed, and a cornipt nature is conveyed, to them. This is what is commonly called Original Sin. Though that phrase is often restricted to the corruption of nature derived to us from Adam, yet, in its proper latitude, it includes also the imputation of guilt.

The doctrine of original sin was universally received by the Church of God until the beginning of the fifth century, when it was denied by Pelagius. He maintained " that the sins of our first parents were imputed to them alone, and not to iheir posterity ; that Ave derive no corruption from their fall, but are born as pure and unspotted as Adam came out of the forming hand of his Creator." * This opinion was adopted by Socinus in the sixteenth century, and is held by the modern Socinians. The Arminians, who derive their name from Arminius, a divine of the seventeenth century, may not speak in the same unqualified terms of the purity of the descendants of Adam, but they do not admit that then- nature is wholly vitiated, or that they have entirely lost their power to do good. In opposition to such tenets our Confession teaches, that a corrupt nature is conveyed to all the posterity of Adam ; and that, by this original corruption, " we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil."

It may be proper to remark, that it is not the doctrine^ of * Mosheim's Churh History, ccent. v., p. 2, ch. 5.

78 CONFESSION OF FAITH. [^CHAP. VI.

tlie Scriptures nor of our standards that the corruption of nature of wliich they speak is any depravation of the soul, or any essential attribute, or the infusion of any positive evil. The Confessions of the Reformers teach " that original righteousness, as a punishment of Adam's sin, was lost, and by that defect the tendency to sin, or corrupt disposition, or corruption of nature, is occasioned. Though they speak of original sin as being, jfirst, negative — i.e., the loss of righteousness — and, secondly, positive, or corruption of nature, yet by the latter, they state, is to be understood, not the infusion of anything in itself sinful, but an actual tendency or disposition to evil, resulting from the loss of righteousness." * The universal corruption of mankind is amply confirmed by the Scriptures: "The imagination of man's heart is e-sdl from his youth." — Gen. viii. 21. " Behold, I was shapen in iniquity: and in sin did my mother conceive me." — Ps. li. 5. " The wicked are estranged from the womb, they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies." — Ps. Iviii, 3. " That which is born of the flesh is flesh," — John iii, 6. " The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." — Rom. viii. 7. These, Avith many other places of Scripture, fully show that all mankind are infected with a corrupted nature. And the Scriptures no less clearly ascribe this corruption to the apostas}' of Adam. The first man was created in the image of God, but after his fall " he begat a son in Ids own likeness." — Gen. v. 3. " By one man sin entered into the Avorld, and death by sin." — Rom. v. 12.

The corruption of human nature, which the Scriptures so clearly teach, may also be inferred from the fact that men, in all countries and in all varieties of situation, are sinners. " The way we come by the idea of any sucli thing as disposition or tendency, is by observing what is constant or general in event, especially under a great variety of circumstances." Now, it is a fact, " that all mankind come into the world in such a state as without fail co7nes to tliis issue, namely, the universal commission of sin ; or that every one who comes to act in the world as a moral agent, is, in a greater or less degree, giiilty of sin." From this we infer " that the mind of man has a natural tendency or propensity to that event which so universally and infallibly takes place ; and that this is a corrupt or depraved propensity." + The universal prevalence of sin cannot be accounted for, as Pelagians have

* Hodge on the Romans, p. 158.

t Edwards on Original Sin, part i., sect. 1, 2. Tliis argument, so ably conducted by President Edwards, has been illi'.strated, with his usual eloqaence, by Or Chalmers, in his Lectures on the lloinans, vol. i., pp. 3()7-370.

SFXT. 3, 4.]] OF THE FALL OF MAN. 70

alleged, by the influence of bad example ; for, as President Edwards has justly argued, " this is accounting for the corruption of the world by the corruption of the world." There are manifestations of moral depravity so very early in childhood as to anticipate all capacity for observing and following the example of others. There also frequently appear in children propensities towards those vices of which they have seen no examples. Besides, there are many examples of eminent virtue in the world, which yet are not so frequently or easily imitated as those of a vicious nature, which plainly shows an innate tendency towards vice.

Another branch of original sin is the imputation of the l/^ guilt of Adam's first transgression. This is rejected by many who admit original corruption.* By the imputation of Adam's first sin, it is not intended that his personal transgression becomes the personal transgression of his posterity; but that the guilt of his transgression is reckoned to their account. And it is only the guilt of his fist sin, which was committed by him as a public representative, that is impiited to his posterity, and not the guilt of his future sins, after he had ceased to act in that character. The grounds of this imputation are, that Adam was both the natural root and tlie federal head or representative of all his posterity. The former is the only ground mentioned in this section of the Confession, probably, because the representative character of Adam in the covenant of works has not yet been brought into view ; but in the succeeding chapter this is distinctly recognised. And both in i\\Q Larger Catechism (Quest. 22), and in the Shorter (Quest. 16), the representative character of Adam in the covenant made with him, is explicitly assigned as the principal ground of the imputation of the guilt of his first sin to all his posterity.

We do not see how the universal corruption of mankind can be accounted for, without admitting that they are involved in the guilt of his first transgression. It must be some sin which God punishas with the deprivation of original righteousness; and that can be no other than the first sin of Adam. The doctrine of imputation is clearly taught in Scripture ; particularly in Ilom. v., it is so plainly stated, so often repeated, and so formally proved, that it must be

* In the seventeenth centurj', De la Place affirmed, " that original sin is indirectly, and not directly, imputed to mankind." (Mosheim's Church History, cent, xvii., sect. 2, p. 2, ch. 2. ) By this is meant, that the personal transgression of Adam is not imputed to mankind, but that they derive from him a corrupted nature, and that this corruption is imputed to them. Among recent authors, we may mention Dr Dwight, who denies the imputation of Adam's first sin to his posterity, and limits the consequonces of his fall, as regards them, to the conveyance of moral Jepravity. — Serm, 32.

80 CONFESSION OF FAITH. LCHAP. VI.

acknowledged to be the doctrine of the apostle. In support of this doctrine, we might appeal to the universality of the effects of sin; especially to the death of infants. The apostle affirms, in the most express terms, that death is the eflfect of sin (Rom. v. 12); and experience as well as Scripture shows that death passes upon all men. It passes even upon those who are incapable of committing actual sin ; for " death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression." — Rom. V. 14. This is generally understood as referring to infants, who are incapable of sinning personally and actually, as Adam did ; and since they have never in their own persons violated any law, their exposure to death can only be accounted for on the ground of the imputation to them of the sin of Adam. This doctrine also derives confirmation from the analogy betwixt Adam and Christ, as stated by the apostle in the same chapter. In verse 14, he affirms that Adam " is the figure of him that was to come," and he traces the analogy in the subsequent verses, particularly in verses 18, 19. " Therefore, as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation ; even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners ; so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." " These verses," says Dr. Chalmers, " contain the strength of the argument for the imputation of Adam's sin. As the condemnation of Adam comes to us, even so does the justification by Christ come to us. Now we know that the merit of the Saviour is ascribed to us, else no atonement for the past, and no renovation of heart or of life that is ever exemplified in this world for the future, will suffice for our acceptance with God. Even so, then, must the demerit of Adam have been ascribed to us. The analogy affirmed in these verses leads irresistibly to this conclusion. The judgment that we are guilty is transferred to us from the actual guilt of the one representative, even as the judgment that Ave are righteous is transferred to us from the actual righteousness of the other representative. We are sinners in virtue of one man's disobedience, independently of our own personal sins; and we are righteous in virtue of another's obedience, independently of our own personal qualifications. We do not say, but that through Adam we become personally sinful — inheriting as we do his corrupt nature. Neither do we say, but that through Christ we become personally holy — deriving out of his fulness the very graces which adorned his on-n character. But, as it is at best a tainted holiness that

we have on this side of death, we must have something more than it in which to appear before God; and the righteousness of Chi'ist reckoned unto us and rewarded in us, is that something. The something which corresponds to this in Adam, is his guilt reckoned unto us and punished in us — so that, to complete the analogy, as from him we get the infusion of his depravity, so from him also do we get the imputation of his demerit."* " Adam is not merely the corrupt parent of a corrupt offspring, who sin because of the depravity wherewith he has tainted all the families of the earth; but who have sinned in him, to use the language of our old divines, as their federal head — as the representative of a covenant which God made with him, and through him with all his posterity ."f