Why do people suffer for a sin Adam committed long ago?

I believe there are a number of answers to this question:

1. Many Christians believe, as I do, that we have inherited Adam’s sinful nature because all of mankind has the “seminal” identity of Adam; therefore, the seed that would come from Adam (indeed, the entire human race) was “infected” by the first act of rebellion. Paul teaches in Romans 5:18-19, “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men…For as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners…” And John Calvin has stated, “By the corruption into which he [Adam] himself fell, he infected his whole seed… Our nature is not only utterly devoid of goodness, but so prolific in all kinds of evil, that it can never be idle.” There are some Christians who believe we suffer and inherit the guilt of Adam, because he represented all of mankind as a “federal headship”; therefore, God judicially condemned the family of Adam because He considered it an act by everyone. I do believe there are multiple problems with this view. First, it appears to be blatantly unjust. Why should we be made (literally) guilty ages before we are even born? This imputing of guilt is undeserved. Furthermore, this view only explains our “guilt” before God (which is potentially unjust according to this view), but it does not sufficiently explain the corrupt nature of man. Indeed, the natural/seminal view better explains our guilt, it better explains the sinful nature present in everyone, and it better explains the need for the virgin conception of Jesus. After all, Jesus would not inherit the corrupt nature infecting the seed of man if he was born of a virgin. And He endured the worst suffering in torture and death on the cross, so that we don’t have to pay for our own sins with eternal suffering in Hell.

2. It is true that we have inherited the guilt of Adam’s sin, but the Bible also teaches that we have inherited a corrupt nature; therefore, our guilt is justified in light of the crimes we have freely chosen to commit in our prideful, fallen state. With this truth in mind, it turns out we are not suffering because of Adam’s sin, but we are suffering because of our own sin! Scripture plainly attests to this truth. Ephesians 2:1-3 states, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins which your formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” Clearly, this passage teaches that our guilt is not based on someone else’s crime, but is derived from the way you and I formerly walked, according to the lusts and desires of our flesh. You suffer because of your sin. And I suffer because of my sin.

3. The Bible does teach that sin entered the world through Adam, but this point does not excuse our culpability for the sins we have committed as free creatures. Romans 5:12 states, “…just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” The death (and suffering) that spreads to all of mankind exists “because all sinned.” That includes you and me.

4. The fact that sin entered the world through one man long before you and I were born was remedied in the redemption and gift made possible by the grace of God through Jesus Christ. Paul teaches in Romans 5:15 and 19, “But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one (Adam) the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many…For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.” Indeed, Paul makes this point in several different ways in chapter 5 of Romans. This teaching actually leads to a more appropriate question: Why should Jesus (the only one without sin) have to suffer on our behalf (the guilty)? Of course, the answer is found in the grace of God.