Let's talk about federalism.

I'd like to begin by making the observation,

and I promise this is relevant,

that babies are fantastic.

I highly recommend them. We had one recently, we still have her actually, and babies just

have a wonderful way of making you smile even when you're at your most commudgeonly.

Now admittedly it is not all hearts and flowers they make a lot of

mess and they really don't care but so what my wife and I realized early on that when they

do that kind of thing it's nothing personal

it's foolish to get annoyed about it because they can't not do it it's just what

babies do and isn't that what we're like too? As sinners we continually make a ton of mess and apart

from God's grace we can't not sin because we're born with a sinful nature. So shouldn't God just say, well that's who they are, they don't know any better. I'm not going to hold them responsible.

Arce Sprawl puts the question like this, if sin is basic to our nature, such that we can do nothing but sin,

how can God judge us for sinning? That is a legitimate question and an obvious one in light of the

doctrine of original sin so we need to consider how our sin nature was

transferred from Adam to his posterity."

It's certainly true that we've inherited sin from Adam.

Romans chapter 5 says that sin came into the world through one man and death through sin and so death

spread to all men. And thankfully Paul doesn't end there. He goes on to make the point that just as sin and death

entered the world through one man, so grace and life enters the world through one man too,

the man Jesus Christ. Now many of us have no problem at

all with the idea of Jesus goodness being given to us by faith even though we've

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