You are not strong enough to withstand temptation to sin. How do I know this? Because Adam wasn’t and he did not have to struggle with a corrupted nature like we do. If we are to learn from Adam’s fall, it would teach us that we, in the weakness of our corrupted nature, don’t have the strength to withstand temptations thrown our way.
Thomas Watson says it well.
Learn from Adam’s fall, how unable we are to stand in our own strength.
If Adam, in the state of integrity, did not stand, how unable are we now, when the lock of our original righteousness is cut.
If purified nature did not stand, how then shall corrupt nature?
We need more strength to uphold us than our own. (Taken from A Body of Divinity, p. 131).
Learn from the example of Adam and lean on the power of the Spirit. “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” Romans 8:13.
Thank you for your timely reminder. I am reading ‘A body of divinity’ at the moment, and finding it a blessing with a good dose of conviction thrown in as I read. May God continue to encourage you and lead you into His wisdom.