Some grant, therefore, that the apostle doth conceal the expres- sion of what is ascribed unto Christ, in opposition unto what he had affirmed of Adam and his sin, unto verse 19 ; but the truth is, it is sufficiently included in the close of verse 14, where he affirms of Adam that, in those things whereof he treats, he was "the figure of him that was to come." For the way and manner whereby he intro- duced righteousness and life, and communicated them unto men, answered the vv^ay and manner whereby Adam introduced sin and death, which passed on all the world. Adam being the figure of Christ, look how it was with him, with respect unto his natural pos- terity, as unto sin and death ; so it is with the Lord Christ, the second Adam, and his spiritual posterity, with respect unto right- eousness and life. Hence we argue, —
If the actual sin of Adam was so imputed unto all his posterity as to he accounted their own sin unto condemnation, then is the actual obedience of Christ, the second Adam, imputed unto all his spiritual seed (that is, unto all believers) unto justification. I shall not here farther press this argument, because the ground of it will occur unto us afterward.
The two next verses, containing an objection and an answer returned unto it, wherein we have no immediate concernment, I shall pass by.
Verses 15, 16. The apostle proceeds to explain his comparison in those things wherein there is a dissimilitude between the comparates: —
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" But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead; much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many."
The opposition is between nrapavTUiiMa on the one hand, and yaficij^ct, on the other, — between which a dissimilitude is asserted, not as unto their opi^osite effects of death and life, but only as unto the degrees of their efficacy, with respect unto those effects. UapaTroj/ji^a, the offence, the fall, the sin, the transgression, — that is, rou hhg irapaxon, " the diso- bedience of one," verse 19. Hence the first sin of Adam is generally called " the fall," — Th vapd'Trrufia. That which is opposed hereunto is 7-6 y^dpiGiia' — " Donum, donum gratuitum; beneficium, id quod Deus gratificatur ;" that is, Xap/$ tou Qsov, xal dupsot, sv yapm rfj rov Ivhs dvdpcJj'Trov 'Iriffou Xpidrov, as it is immediately explained, " The grace of God, and the free gift by grace, through Jesus Christ." Wherefore, although this word, in the next verse, doth precisely signify the righteousness of Christ, yet here it comprehends all the causes of our justification, in opposition unto the fall of Adam, and the entrance of sin thereby.
The consequent and effect toD Tapa'^Tw/Marog, — " of the offence," the fall, — is, that " many be dead." No more is here intended by " many," but only that the effects of that one offence were not con- fined unto one ; and if we inquire who or how many those many are, the apostle tells us that they are all men universally ; that is, all the posterity of Adam. By this one offence, because they all sinned, therein they are all dead ; that is, rendered obnoxious and liable unto death, as the punishment due unto that one offence. And hence also it appears how vain it is to wrest those words of verse 1 2, " Inasmuch as all have sinned," unto any other sin but the first sin in Adam, seeing it is given as the reason why death passed on them ; it being here plainly affirmed " that they are dead," or that death passed on them by that one offence.
The efficacy rou yapl0/j,aTog, — " of the free gift," — opposed hereunto, is expressed, as that which abounded much more. Besides the thing itself asserted, which is plain and evident, the apostle seems to me to argue the equity of our justification by grace, through the obedience of Christ, by comparing it with the condemnation that befell us by the sin and disobedience of Adam. For if it were just, meet, and equal, that all men should be made subject unto condemnation for the sin of Adam; it is much more so, that those who believe should be justified by the obedience of Christ, through the grace and free donation of God. But wherein, in particular, the gift by grace abounded unto many, above the efficacy of the fixll to condemn, he declares afterward. And that whereby we are freed from condemna- tion, more eminently than we are made obnoxious unto it by the fall
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and sin of Adam, by that alone we are justified before God. But this is by the grace of God, and the gift by grace, through Jesus Christ alone; which we plead for, verse 16. Another difference between the comparates is expressed, or rather the instance is given in particular of the dissimilitude asserted in general before : —
" And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift : for the judg- ment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification."