A humble endeavour of some plain and brief explication of the decrees and operations of God, about the free actions of men, more especially of the operations of divine grace written by Mr. John Corbet ...

16. Sin doth not necessarily follow the permission of it.

IF the Humane Will had been bent to sin by a Natural Incli∣nation, as the fire burns, sin must have necessarily followed upon the permission of it. But first man sinned with Free∣dom and Choice, and without any previous inclination to it, and therefore the bare Permission of it, which is no more than a Non-prevention, doth not infer a Necessity of sin∣ning. Nor did it causally ascertain the Event of sin. For it hath no Causation in it.

Yea, the first man sinned not only by Free Choice, and with∣out a Previous Inclination to it, but also against a Holy In∣clination to Obedience, called Original Righteousness. This holy Inclination, though it was not so natural, as burning is to fire, that is, naturally inseparable, yet it was necessary to Humane Nature in its right state, and as it first came out of its Makers Hands; and under the Necessary Influence of God, which was with him, it was so fully sufficient to his Per∣severance in that state, that his sin was a matter of inexcu∣sable Ingratitude, and high Contempt of the Divine Good∣ness towards him.

In the state of Fallen Nature the Will hath lost its Free∣dom to acts conformable to Gods Law, and is enslaved to sin. And while God permits him to abide in this state, man sin∣neth Necessarily; yet not by reason of Gods Permission, but his own Vicious Inclination. This Necessity of Sinning is not purely Natural but Moral, which is also Voluntary, be∣ing from no other Cause, than the obstinate Depravedness of the Will it self, which is not to be conquered by its own

Power. Moreover, it is not a Necessity of the very parti∣cular sins which men run into, as if they were inevitabe. For ordinarily the particular sinful deeds committed might be forborn, and the Duties omitted might be performed, as to the outward deed. But the meaning is, whatsoever an un∣renewed person doth, hath necessarily, in the manner of it, a disconformity to Gods Law. A Corrupt Tree cannot bring forth Good Fruit.