QUESTION VIII. 313 the virgin which was assumed by Christ, being not a human person, but mere animal matter, came not under the general condemning sentence of Adam, and of all those which are na- turally derived from him ; and it was also purified from any inherent vicious ferments, which might reside in the animal nature of the virgin : And thus Christ had no original sin inhe- rent; nor even imputed by the same constitution, and on the same account as other children have; but was perfectly inno- cent ; and consequently he had not been exposed to suffer sick- ness and death which other children are exposed to, nor subject to any of our sorrows, if he had not been a voluntary under- taker to rescue and redeem fallen man, by hazing all our sins imputed to hint and sujered in our stead. But this is only a thought by the way. Let us proceed farther in the proof of this sentence of con- demnation and death,' coming upon all mankind for the sin of Adam, and let St. Paul in the fifth chapter of the epistle to the Romans be brought as a considerable witness. I think this chap- ter cannot be fairly construed to any other sense. See verses 12-14. On these andthe following verses I desire to make these plain andleasy remarks : I. Here Adam and Christ are set up as two distinct heads or represetìtatives of their several families : Adam was the head Of all mankind who became sinful and mortal by the corruption o£ our natuye, and Christ was the head of the new creation, or of the saints who obtained righteousness and life by divine grace. Verse 12-14, the apostle says, "As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, sodeath passed upon all men, for that all have sinned ;" or as some render it, in whom all have sinned : And that with full as rough or morejustice than Levi was said to pay tithes in Abraham, his great grandfather; Heb. vii. 9. And then tite apostle gives this reason to prove this headship of Adam : For, saith he, until the law, that is, from the creation of man till the law of Moses, " in was in the world; but sin is not imputed where thereis no law :" Thiscannot mean, where there is no explicit and positive law, for the heathens have sin imputed to them who had no such explicit positive plain law given them ; but his meaning is, that sinis never imputed where there is no law divinely established, no constitution of duty and penalty at all. Yet, saith he, death reigned-from Adam to Aloses, that is, yet sin was imputed and punished by death, even upon all mankind bothgreat and small, beforeMoses's laws : And the inference is, therefore there was some law or constitution during all the time from Adam to Moses, by and according to which sin vas imputed to mankind ; and sleath was executed upon them according to- this law. Now what law could that be besides the law or constitution, which said to Adam as a representative,
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