Paul replies that “sin is not _imputed_ without law;” that is, as I think evident, it is not regarded as _guilt_. A man who sins ignorantly is not _guilty_; but he _suffers_ the consequences of his sin, which are depravity of his nature, or moral death. “Sin is not imputed,” says Paul; “but death reigns.” Those who do not sin “after the similitude of Adam’s transgression,”—that is, who do not violate a positive command,—nevertheless are depraved morally, and are dead spiritually. The Hottentots and Fejee Islanders violate no positive law given them by God, and consequently are not guilty of that; but because they violate (even ignorantly) the laws of their moral nature, they are depraved morally. We see, then, that Paul distinctly recognizes the distinction made above between _sin as guilt_ and _sin as depravity_. He distinguishes between sin as sinfulness, or unconscious transgression (ἡ ἁμαρτία), and sin as conscious transgression of a known command (παράβασις). The consequence of the first is death, or moral and spiritual depravity; the consequence of the second is condemnation, or a sense of guilt. Sinfulness, bringing with it depravity (the general demoralization of human nature), began with Adam. All became involved in sinfulness, and consequently all partook of the depravity which belongs to it as its wages. It should, however, be observed that it is not the purpose of Paul to teach anything about Adam. His intention is to teach something about Christ. He refers to Adam’s case as something they all are acquainted with; he compares Christ’s case with it both by contrast and resemblance. But his object is not to instruct us about Adam, but about Christ. He uses Adam as an example to enforce his doctrine about Christ. Through Christ, goodness and happiness were to come into the world. He illustrated this fact, and made it appear probable, by the fact which they already knew—that through Adam sin and death had entered the world. If it seemed strange, in an age in which men were so disunited, that one man should be the medium of communicating goodness to the whole human race, they might remember that Adam also had been the medium of introducing sin to the whole human race. If the Jews wondered that Christ should bring salvation to those who were not under the law, they might remember that Adam had brought death to those not under the law, and who did not sin as he did. If they doubted how Christ’s goodness could help to make men righteous, they might remember that in some way Adam’s transgression had helped to make men sinners. Yet, after all, the main fact which he states is in the twelfth verse, chapter five—“that by one man sin _entered into_ the world, and death by sin.” This amounts to saying that sin _began_ with Adam. Then he adds, in the same verse, “that death has passed upon all men, _because all have sinned_.” He therefore distinctly declares that every man is punished for his own sin, and not for the sin of Adam.