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commission of sin in Adam, for He certainly shared the same human nature, the nature that
actually sinned in Adam.
b. The doctrine of the covenant of works.
This implies that Adam stood in a twofold
relationship to his descendants, namely, that of the natural head of all mankind, and that of the
representative head of the entire human race in the covenant of works. (1) The natural
relationship. In his natural relationship Adam was the father of all mankind. As he was created
by God he was subject to change, and had no rightful claim to an unchangeable state. He was in
duty bound to obey God, and this obedience did not entitle him to any reward. On the other
hand, if he sinned, he would become subject to corruption and to punishment, but the sin
would be only his own, and could not be placed to the account of his descendants. Dabney
holds that, according to the law that like begets like, his corruption would have passed on to his
descendants. But however this may be — and it is rather useless to speculate about it — they
certainly could not have been held responsible for this corruption. They could not have been
considered guilty in Adam merely in virtue of the natural relationship in which Adam stood to
the race. The usual Reformed representation is a different one. (2) The covenant relationship.
To the natural relationship in which Adam stood to his descendants God graciously added a
covenant relationship containing several positive elements: (a) An element of representation.
God ordained that in this covenant Adam should not stand for himself only, but as the
representative of all his descendants. Consequently, he was the head of the race not only in a
parental, but also in a federal sense. (b) An element of probation. While apart from this
covenant Adam and his descendants would have been in a continual state of trial, with a
constant danger of sinning, the covenant guaranteed that persistent perseverance for a fixed
period of time would be rewarded with the establishment of man in a permanent state of
holiness and bliss. (c) An element of reward or punishment. According to the terms of the
covenant Adam would obtain a rightful claim to eternal life, if he fulfilled the conditions of the
covenant. And not only he, but all his descendants as well would have shared in this blessing. In
its normal operation, therefore, the covenant arrangement would have been of incalculable
benefit for mankind. But there was a possibility that man would disobey, thereby reversing the
operation of the covenant, and in that case the results would naturally be correspondingly
disastrous. Transgression of the covenant commandment would result in death. Adam chose
the course of disobedience, corrupted himself by sin, became guilty in the sight of God, and as
such subject to the sentence of death. And because he was the federal representative of the
race, his disobedience affected all his descendants. In His righteous judgment God imputes the
guilt of the first sin, committed by the head of the covenant, to all those that are federally
related to him. And as a result they are born in a depraved and sinful condition as well, and this
inherent corruption also involves guilt. This doctrine explains why only the first sin of Adam,
and not his following sins nor the sins of our other forefathers, is imputed to us, and also