Persist in faith, and keep astray from temptation... maybe I expressed badly because "resistere" and "persistere" are almost synonims in Italian, but since Mickey has understood what I meant, I think it's you who are provoking me.
Whoa! Way to take it personally. I was confused by your odd word choice, and your explanation of the Italian clears it up perfectly. In English, "resist" requires an object (that is, something to be resisted), whereas "persist" does not. Hence when you used "resist," I asked what was to be resisted.