¹² Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned …

Death is a mainstay in life, fallen as it is—and it all goes back to Adam. “Just as” signals that a comparison is being made (namely with Christ), but we must first understand why that first sin is so significant. Theologians have used various words and phrases: Adam was our federal head, that is, he was the representative of all humanity. So “in him” we all sinned and fell. He was like the captain of the team that is composed of all humanity. He sinned on our behalf, in our stead. Paul conveys this in another letter: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Cor 15:22).

Egalitarians reject the notion of Adam’s federal headship, because this withholds that representative role and authority from Eve, and such distinction would necessarily have applied before the sin took place. This would have something to say about role relationships in marriage and the church, as complementarians ascribe. Yet in response, we note that Eve was no less guilty for her sin, for she was fully aware of the prohibition, took of the fruit before Adam did, and even led Adam into sinning with her. If anything, one could argue that she was more culpable than Adam. Yet nowhere does Scripture ever teach that sin came to all of mankind through Eve. So we agree that Adam was our federal head, he sinned on our behalf, and we inherited his debt of sin.

Another perspective is that we were in Adam seminally when he sinned. In this sense, he was more than a representative; all of mankind subsequently was inherently present in Adam. We see this seminal concept articulated by the writer to the Hebrews: “And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him” (Heb 7:9–10). Levi (the ancestral patriarch of the Jewish priests) was “in the loins of his father” (referring to Levi’s great-grandfather Abraham) when Abraham offered a tithe to King Melchizedek. So the Levitical priesthood was therefore inferior to the Melchizedekian priesthood—the point being that this all held true because in some sense Levi was “in Abraham.” The phrase “in his loins” is where we get the seminal concept. We could say, then, that we all were “in the loins” of Adam when he sinned.

Lest we blame Adam, sin has spread to all of us, and therefore we are all guilty. To be sure, he began it all as our federal and seminal head, but we have wholeheartedly agreed with his actions as evidenced by our willful sins.

Lord, I confess that I would have done the same as Adam, for I, too, have shown by my behavior that I am a sinner just like he was.