It has often been said by brethren from John Thomas’s day to our own, that in the outworking of the salvation of repentant sinners, God deals with the entire Human race in terms of a Federal Headship. Sometimes this is objected to on the basis that the word “federal” is not found in Scripture, and that we are therefore using unScriptural language. However, the deficiency is one of understanding, not expression. In this article, we seek to demonstrate what is meant by the use of the term, and that although the word itself is not in the Bible, the concept truly is – and that it is an important aspect of the Atonement.
As an example, the following was written in response to a correspondent by Robert Roberts:
J. B.—What was true of the community to whom Peter wrote in respect of Christ having borne their sins (1 Peter 2:24), becomes equally true of all who at any time come into the same position of privilege in relation to Christ. In Christ, the consequences accruing to all mankind, as the result of the first man’s transgression (Romans 5:12), have been rectified, sin and death brought to an end, and life and incorruptibility brought to light for all who believe. To effect this the first thing that was required was a man perfectly innocent of sin (1 Peter 2:22); next to this, that such an one should be born in “the likeness of sinful flesh” (Romans 8:3), and therefore a partaker of the death-stricken flesh and blood common to the race he came to redeem (Hebrews 2:14). Under these circumstances sin was “condemned” and “put away,” death “abolished,” and “eternal redemption” obtained in Christ’s own person; and therein in trust, as a result in due time to be extended to all who should obey the truth. This participation begins with the moral and symbolic counterpart, represented by the baptismal institution, whereby men are introduced into the new federal headship.
For Christ having “died to sin,” and thereby having become free from the “law of sin,” which hitherto dominated in his members, it is required of those who believe that they also be buried with him by baptism into his death-to-sin; that they also may be reckoned as dead to sin, and therefore as “freed from sin.” For, says Paul, “our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed” (Romans 6:6). This shows us that the thing effected in Christ’s crucifixion, and the design of our being planted in the likeness of His death, is the destruction of “the body of sin.” In Christ the whole thing was in progress from the first, to the point of its culmination in his sacrificial death; and followed finally by his resurrection, to a life no longer dependent upon the blood that energised the first man to sin; and no longer subject to the law of sin, that brings death in its train to all mankind, having “died to sin” he now “lives to God” by the power of an endless life. Being a representative man (2 Corinthians 5:14), those who choose him, or accept him as their representative, are made partakers of the sacrificial act, by which that which hitherto had possessed the power of death was destroyed, and made one with the righteousness by which it was all effected (Romans 5:18), and as the result of which the “last Adam” has now become the first-born of a finally immortal family of sons and daughters. The old constitution of sin and death having come to an end (Daniel 9:24), a result achieved in Christ’s own person; men are thereupon invited to make these results theirs, by making themselves one with the instrumentality, by whom, and in whom they have been effected. Christ’s death was racial (as is shown by his being called “the last Adam.”) The benefits of it, beginning with the forgiveness of sins, are for “whosoever will” The once-shed blood, and the once-offered body of Christ, avails for all, in every age of history, that flesh and blood has anything to do with (Heb. 9:15). Men only need to come into touch with it to become partakers of the benefit which enables them to say, “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, be glory and dominion;” or to join at last with the crowned heads of Messiah’s all-nation kingdom, in the song that says, “Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood” (Rev. 5:9, 10).
Robert Roberts, The Christadelphian Magazine, 1888 Page 624–625.
He also wrote this in the following year:
“Adam. I.—He was “the figure” (as before said) of him that was to come (Rom. 5:14), and therefore one in whom, in some particulars, Christ was prefigured. These particulars include his name, which was also one of the names of Christ (1 Cor. 15:45); his being a first-born son of God (Luke 3:38); the federal head of the race; and the possessor of dominion and authority to subdue the earth, and to fill it with life and the fruits of his labour and skill. In these points we have a kind of portrait of Christ, of which we have already seen the initial counterpart, with much more to come that is still more glorious. As Adam was the “one” by whom came sin and death, so Christ is the “one” by whom has come righteousness and life. Again, “as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive.” For as God has dealt with the whole race in Adam, so now he is dealing with the whole race in the representatives “last Adam,” and “second man.” In this we have Adam, the head of a mortal race, and Christ the head of an immortal race, developed out of the old stock. The parallels, comparisons, and what we might call comparison-contrasts, are matters of many references one way or other in the epistles.
Robert Roberts, The Christadelphian, 1889 Page 35–36.
From these words, we find that our salvation is bound up in a family relationship. We are naturally descended from Adam, a sinner, and bear the consequences of that situation. But spiritually (and physically later), we can embrace Christ as the head of a new creation, and obtain benefits from being in that relationship.
CONSEQUENCES OF ADAM’S SIN
The early chapters of Genesis describe to us the entrance of sin – and subsequently death – into the world. The Apostle Paul emphasises certain points in connection with this:
“… by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, in whom (JT) all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12).
The very plain teaching here, is that through Adam, sin entered into the world, and as a consequence, “death passed upon all men”. In other words, Adam is the head of a race, and because of his sin and it’s punishment, all of those emerged from his loins die – death passed upon all them. Not that we bear any sort of legal or moral guilt for that sin, but rather that we bear the physical consequence of it. So, the Apostle states “in Adam all die” (1 Cor 15:22). As Robert Roberts has it: “men are mortal because of sin, quite independently of their own transgressions” (The Law of Moses, p. 173).
The Bible is very clear that the reason we die is because we are mortal descendents of Adam:
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body” (Rom. 6:12).
“… he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you” (Rom. 8:11).
“ … we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’s sake, that the life also of Jesus might be manifest in our mortal flesh” (1 Cor. 4:11).
We die then, because we have a “mortal body,” consisting of “mortal flesh”. That is why babies – who have done no sin – sometimes die, even in the womb: they are mortal descendants of Adam.
But this mortality came upon man as part of the curse and punishment upon Adam for his transgression (see Genesis 3). As well as being death-stricken, the now defective physical condition of man gives rise to sinful thoughts and actions. Because that condition came about as a consequence of sin, it is described by Paul as “sin that dwelleth in me” (Rom. 7:17, 20). He further says that “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing” (Rom. 7:18), and refers to this principle as “the law of sin and death”, and “sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8:2-3). Notice, that it is one law – a physical principle of our being – hence Paul exclaims: “who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom. 7:25), when speaking of his inability to overcome this indwelling sin.
In fact, we find that this law of mortality is personified as the diabolos, translated, Devil in Hebrews chapter 2: “… him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14). This is the Bible devil: not a rebel angel, but the element within the human constitution that gives rise to sin, and which makes it mortal (i.e. having the power of death). This is why it was so necessary for Jesus to have that same nature in order to overcome it: “forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same …” (Heb. 2:14). He could not overcome sin in the flesh, if there were no sin in his flesh.
THE LAST ADAM
A key passage in understanding the salvation that can come through Jesus is 1 Corinthians 15:
“and so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterwards that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such is the earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly …” (1 Cor. 15:45-49)
Here, mankind is divided into two categories: those who bear the image of the first Adam, and those who will bear the image of the second. All men and women bear the image of the first, by being physically descended from him. Being his offspring, they bear the likeness of his now sinful flesh. In this sense, Adam, the father of the human race, stands as a federal head. So Brother Thomas explains:
“The two Adams are two federal chiefs; the first being figurative of the second in these relations. All sinners are in the first Adam; and all the righteous in the second, only on a different principle. Sinners were in the loins of the former when he transgressed; but not in the loins of the latter, when he was obedient unto death; therefore, “the flesh profiteth nothing”. For this cause, then, for sons of Adam to become sons of God, they must be the subjects of an adoption, which is attainable only by some divinely appointed means.”
(Elpis Israel, “The Constitution of Righteousness” p. 132)
The idea of a “Federal Head” has been expressed thus:
“Federal headship refers to the representation of a group united under a federation or covenant. For example, a country’s president may be seen as the federal head of their nation, representing and speaking on its behalf before the rest of the world.”
(Wikipedia)
Once we appeciate the words of Paul cited above, we can see that the phrase is wholly appropriate to our standing in relation to both Adam and Christ. Adam is the federal head of the human race, and Christ, the second Adam, is the federal head of a new creation, being the firstborn of many children comprising a new, immortal race.
ADAM AND CHRIST
To emphasise the point: although we are in no way guilty for what Adam did, we do bear the physical consequences of it – as our misfortune, not our crime. So Paul made a comparison between the two heads:
“ … for if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, hath abounded unto many … therefore as by the offfence of one judgment came upon all men unto condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be righteous” (Rom. 5:15-19 – read whole chapter)
The emphasis in this passage, is that just as the consequence of one man’s offence condemnation came upon all his progeny, even so it is through the consequence of one man’s act of righteousness (Jesus) that righteousness can be imputed to those over whom he is the head. We shall return to this aspect presently.
It is clear that any way of forgiveness and salvation must acknowledge and demonstrate that God is right to require the condemnation and destruction of that element within man which gives rise to comitted sin – AKA “sin in the flesh” and “the diabolos”. The sacrifice of Christ fulfills that condition: so the Apostle wrote of the Master:
“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Rom. 3:25-26).
The Lord Jesus Christ was morally sinless, so for him to die was not a consequence of any sin comitted by him (as it has been falsely claimed that we teach). Neither was it any sort of punishment for bearing the guilt of another man’s sin (as the substitution theory claims). Rather, by being physically descended from Adam, he inherited a nature that was under condemnation. God sent His own Son “in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8:3). This arrangement of things declared God’s Righteousness in order that He could be a Justifier, at the same time as being Just Himself. That is, His righteousness in requiring the condemnation and destruction of sin in the flesh / the diabolos (Rom. 8:3, Heb. 2:14) was upheld, and it was upon the basis of this declaration that sins can be remitted.
“Christ was the ‘seed of Abraham’, the flesh of David, the sin-nature of the condemned Adam, for the condemnation of sin in the flesh. The condemnation rested on him, which was the uncleanness, and this antitypical uncleanness of the ‘one great offering’ could only be cleansed after the example of the type – by death and burning: the burning being the change effected by the Spirit on the risen body of the Lord after his death for sin”
(Robert Roberts, The Christadelphian 1873, p 407)
If a saviour had to declare that God was right to require death, he must willingly die to make that declaration. This is what took place in Christ. But once that declaration had happened, it so pleased the Father to raise his Son to be the beginning of a new creation: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Cor. 15:20).
Morally, Jesus was sinless, and it had to be so. If he had sinned, he would not have been an acceptible offering, for he would have been comitting the very cause for which death came into existence! In order for sin to be rightly condemned “in the flesh” of Christ, he had to be without transgression – only then could it be said that he had overcome it, otherwise it would have overcome him! But as Brother Roberts shows, the sacrifice was not complete until the smoke rose up, and was accepted by Yahweh. Even so, it was the rising up again of the Master that signified the victory over sin, and the acceptance of a sacrificial offering.
A PARTICIPATORY SACRIFICE
The offering up of the Lord is sometimes referred to as being “participatory”. This means that those for whom he laid down his life have to do something themselves – i.e. they have to actively participate in the principles being exhibited. And the way in which it so so pleased the Father for them to accomplish this, is by passing through the waters of Baptism, and subsequently leading a life devoted to Him. By being baptised, a person enacts the principles of Messiah’s offering. By being immersed in water, they acknowledge that God rightly requires the putting to death of sinful flesh, and in a figure, their sins are washed away (Acts 22:16). Baptism is the means by which it has please our Creator (in this dispensation) for his willing servants to be advantaged by the offering up of his son. Speaking of the Ark that Noah built, it is said to be: “the like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 3:21). So it is that baptism “saves us” but “by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” and the victory that this accomplished.
SAVING SINNERS
It is written that: “this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners …” (1 Tim. 1:15). As the angel spoke to Joseph: “… thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Mat. 1:21). But the way in which sinners can be saved, is by acknowledging and forsaking the root cause of transgression: sin in their flesh which was condemned (judged against) in the death of Messiah, and finally abolished in his resurrection. Sinners can be forgiven by choosing to change their relationship to their respective federal heads: from being “in Adam” to being “in Christ”. It is written that “as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22). Being constitutionally “in” Christ, we can inherit life, just as those who remain “in” Adam inherit death. Brother CC Walker expresssed the situation thus:
“The federal principle involved is expounded by Paul in his epistle to the Romans (ch. v. 12-19). It is, in effect, this: that sin entered into the world by one man, Adam, and death by sin : that death (dissolution and return to dust) has thus passed upon all, even upon babes who have not themselves sinned, and that thus, through one man’s disobedience, all were made or constituted sinners, and all (with the single exception of Jesus of Nazareth) themselves became actual sinners by individual transgression. That God, in His grace and forbearance, raised up Jesus as a second Adam in the family of Abraham and David, and, commanding him to lay down his life, thus gave him as a sacrifice for sins in his obedience unto death, and for his righteousness sake raised him from the dead, and gave him as the head of a new generation of the race which should be begotten upon a higher principle. All men are sons of Adam by fleshly descent; but no man is a son of the Second Adam, or son of God, otherwise than, by belief of the gospel and baptism into him. (CC Walker, The Ministry of the Prophets – p 646)
SUMMARY
What we have endeavored to show, is that the way of Salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ involves a change of family relationships. It has pleased our Creator to deal representatively and racially with us. Naturally, we physically inherit the law of sin and death from Adam. But if we recogise the righteousness of God by being Baptised into Christ, and seek to crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts (Gal. 5:24), our sins can be forgiven for Christ’s sake. We become “in Christ” rather than “in Adam”, and will receive the consequence of his righteousness, like we inherit the consequence of Adam’s sin. If we do this, then when Messiah comes again, it will be granted us to bear the image of the heavenly rather than the earthy, and we shall be made like unto him: the firstborn of a new creation and family, which will ultimately fill all the earth with the revealed Glory of God, even as the waters cover the sea (Num. 14:21).
Christopher Maddocks
dust) has thus passed upon all, even upon babes who have not themselves sinned, and that thus, through one man’s disobedience, all were made or constituted sinners, and all (with the single exception of Jesus of Nazareth) themselves became actual sinners by individual transgression. That God, in His grace and forbearance, raised up Jesus as a second Adam in the family of Abraham and David, and, commanding him to lay down his life, thus gave him as a sacrifice for sins in his obedience unto death, and for his righteousness sake raised him from the dead, and gave him as the head of a new generation of the race which should be begotten upon a higher principle. All men are sons of Adam by fleshly descent; but no man is a son of the Second Adam, or son of God, otherwise than, by belief of the gospel and baptism into him.
(CC Walker, The Ministry of the Prophets – p 646)
SUMMARY
What we have endeavored to show, is that the way of Salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ involves a change of family relationships. It has pleased our Creator to deal representatively and racially with us. Naturally, we physically inherit the law of sin and death from Adam. But if we recogise the righteousness of God by being Baptised into Christ, and seek to crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts (Gal. 5:24), our sins can be forgiven for Christ’s sake. We become “in Christ” rather than “in Adam”, and will receive the consequence of his righteousness, like we inherit the consequence of Adam’s sin. If we do this, then when Messiah comes again, it will be granted us to bear the image of the heavenly rather than the earthy, and we shall be made like unto him: the firstborn of a new creation and family, which will ultimately fill all the earth with the revealed Glory of God, even as the waters cover the sea (Num. 14:21).
Christopher Maddocks
