Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1882-12-07
&eadiua fur the Sabbath.
CONDUCTED RY
REV, ROBERT LATHAM.
(t'riginal.
IVTTIHINitl
ADAM'S SIN OURS.
In Adams f:,l.
We sjnOa,1 ALL

We sinned ALL
We feel safe in saying that the above coup
let is more to be priced on account of it's sound
theology than it is to I've admired on account
of its poetical merit. We know not who is
it's author. We first saw it in what was called
''The New England Primer" No matter
by whom it was written, or where, OF when it
was first published, it contains trnth, often
expressed in the Scriptures, and experienced
by all men. ''By one mans disobedence
many" says Paul, ''were made sinners -
Romans 5 10. In the 18th verse of the same
chapter, the Apostle declares that ''by the Of
fense of one man Judgment came upon all men
to condemnation. In the 18th verse Of the
same chapter, we are told that on account OF
Zone mans offense death reigned," =" and in the
18th verse, we are told that sin entered into
the world by one man, and death entered by
sin, and that death passed upon all men, be-
cause all men sinned. ..-.&
1t is true, then, in some sense, according to
the Scriptures
.'In Adams fall
i. We Sinned all.
It cannot be regarded rs matter of idle
curiosity, to inquire how all men sinned IN
Adam No one will deny, that in some way,
the whole human race have become involved
in moral ruin; or that all men, in the Ian
guage of the Scriptures, are dead in trespasses
and sins. There are but three possible ways
by which we could be made sinners in Adam.
(1) BY consenting to Adams offense and thus
approving of it. This is not what the Scrip
lures mean when they tell us that by the Of
fense of one man, many were made sinners.
This is clear, from the fact that the Scriptures
teach that death follows sin as the effect fol-
lows the cause, or that death isby sin. A vast
multitude die, who cannot be said to consent
to or approve of Adams transgression. They
die before they are capable Of eithe rknowing
or doing good or evil They could not consent
to what they could not, and consequently did
not know. 1t is not denied that we may be-
come guilty or liable to be punished for the
sins of others, because we consented to their
offenses and approved of their transgressions.
1t is, however, denied that we can approve OF
an offense of which we are ignorant. If then,
it be so that death entered into the world by
sin, and many die before they are capable OF
knowing what Adams transgression, Or Of
fense, was, it is impossible that we become
sinners in Adam because we approve of his Of
fense. If we become sinners in Adam because
we consent to his offense, and approve of his
transgression, then, since death is the wages
of sin, none would die except those who are
capable of approving of Adams sin. But this
-, Jrfo 70 MT oanoh1p of
proving Of Adams sin. These die; therefore,
we may conclude that we are not made sinners
in Adam because we consent to what he did.
(2). Another way by which we may be made
sinners in Adam, is by initiating his trans
gression. No one will deny that by initiating
sinners we are made, or become sinners but
no one can safely conclude that this is what
the Apostle means when he says, by one mans
disobedience many were made sinners. This
appears, from the fact that the penalty of sin,
in some sense and to some extent, is visited
upon countless numbers of the human family
who are incapable of initiating Adam. Paul
teaches US that death, the wages of sin, is Wis
tied upon those "who have not Sinned after
the similitude of Adams transgression. If
we are made sinners by initiating Adams
transgression, then only those who are capable
of initiating this transgression can be made,
or become sinners This, however, is not true
for infants, who are incapable of initiating
any one or anything, suffer the penalties OF
disobedience Such being the case, we may
safely, because in perfect harmony with the
Scriptures, conclude that all men are not made
or become sinners in Adam because all men
initiate him.
(3). The only remaining way by which we
can be said to be made, or to become sinners
in Adam, is by imputation. TO impute is to
reckon or,set to the account of an individual !;
hence, to say that we become sinners in Adam
by imputation, is the same thing as to say that
Adams sin is reckoned ours, or set to our ac-
count.
That this is the case, may be argued from
the fact that, beyond all controversy, all men
were made sinners, in some way, in Adam.
They could not all have actually and individ-
ally sinned with him because his descendants
had no existence when he sinned, except in
the determinate cOunsels of God. In other
words, they had no existence except in the
mind of God. We have seen that all men are
not made sinners in Adam, because they ap-
proved of his sin, neither are they made sim
ners because they initiated hiS example The
only way in which they could be made sinners
in Adam was by imputation.
1t is the manifest teaching of the Scriptures
that we were made sinners in Adam in the
same way that we are made righteous in Christ
Jesus. 1t is also clear, from the Scriptures,
that we are made righteous in Christ Jesus not
because we actually obey the law with him,
neither does our righteousness consist in ap-
proving of what Christ did, nor does it consist
in initiating Christ. AS the redeemer, Christ
obeyed the law of God for sinners. That is,
he obeyed, as public person, or as repre-
sentative person, and the righteousness which
he thus wrought out is, by God, imputed or
reckoned to sinners. Abraham believed God,
and it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Not that Abraham's faith was righteousness,
or regarded byGod as an equivalent for right
eousness, but only rs unto righteousness, or
the channel through which he received the JUS
tifying Righteousness of the Messiah.
There is just as much evidence in the Scrip
lures that Adam was u public person, or that
he stood as the representative of his race, as
there is that Jesus Christ was public person,
or that he represented his spiritual seed. Both
are called Adam, and the parallel is perfect so
far as it goes. There is this difference. The
first Adam, or he from whom we all are de-
scended, by ordinary generation, represented
us in one offense, and in only one while the