reckon a thing ours, which is not so; "The judgment of God is
world; "The first man is of the earth, earthy, (says he): the second man is the Lord from heaven," (1 Cor. 15:47). And this he does, because they were two public persons, each of them having under them persons represented by them, (Rom. 5:14,18).
"Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 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." This is plain from the imputation of Adam's sin, which necessarily requires this as the foundation of it. We being thus included and represented in that covenant, what he did he did as our head, and therefore it is justly imputed to us.
But some may be ready to say, we made not choice of Adam for that purpose. Ans. (l.) God made the choice, who was as meet to make it for us as we for ourselves. And "who art then that repliest against God," (Rom. 9:20). (2.) Adam was our natural head, the common father of us all, (Acts 17:26) and who was so meet to be trusted with the concerns of all mankind as he? But to clear further the reasonableness of this imputation, and to still the murmuring of proud nature against the dispensation of God, consider,
1. Adam's sin is imputed to us, because it is ours. For God doth not reckon a thing ours, which is not so; "The judgment of God is according to truth," (Rom. 2:2). For God's justice doth not punish men for a sin which is in no way theirs. And it is our sin upon the account aforesaid. Even as Christ's righteousness is ours by virtue of our union with him. As if a person that has the plague infect others, and they die, they die, by their own plague, and not by that of another.