"Because He is the covenantal head of elect believers, He [Jesus] may be and is their righteousness with God by faith alone in Him. Because He is the covenantal head of elect believers, the obedience of these believers need not be, may not be, and is not their righteousness with God. For their obedience to be their righteousness with God would be to dispossess, displace, disregard, and disgrace the head of the covenant, who is Jesus the Christ. It is the precise purpose of Galatians 3 to establish that the precious but contested truth of justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ has its ground in the covenantal headship of Jesus Christ."
- David Engelsma, "Gospel Truth of Justification," p. 303
The Apostle Paul describes a parallel and contrast between Adam and Jesus in Romans 5:12-21.
First, he tells us of Adam in verse 12: "Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned..." Theologians refer to this as the Covenant of Works, which God made with Adam, and, through him, with all his posterity. All of Adam's descendants, excepting Jesus alone, were represented by Adam. If Adam had fulfilled that covenant by perfect obedience during his period of probation, then not only he, but that posterity also, would have been confirmed in eternal life. The condition to be met in that covenant was perfect obedience. For how long? We aren't told. However, for some length of time. But Adam failed, taking himself and his posterity into death, both spiritual and physical.
Then Paul tells us of a separate covenant between the Father and the Son, for which the application to us has been called the Covenant of Grace. "But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's [i. e., Adam's] trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for [a different] many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following man trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous" (Romans 5:15-18).
Thus, Paul points to two covenants, one headed by Adam, the other by Jesus, whom he calls "the last Adam" in I Corinthians 15:45, and contrasts their effects. One renders men sinners while the other renders men righteous, not inherently, but rather by the imputation of the nature of the heads of the respective covenants.
Modern Americans have a problem with covenant theology, because we do not live in a covenantal society. We believe that each person determines his own fortunes in life. Yet we same Americans are happy to talk about Jesus as our savior. We will gladly accept the imputation to us of His righteousness. However, we rarely accept the other side of the same coin, the imputation of Adam's fall. The two concepts follow the same covenantal logic, but they fall on our ears very differently. Yet, to accept the one necessarily implies the other, as I wrote here.
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