Does the one who persists in a major sin, despite prolonged advice and his continued insistence, indicate that he considers it permissible?

Question:
Does not the one who persists in a major sin, despite prolonged advice and his continued insistence on it, indicate that he considers it permissible? For he did not persist in this major sin except while considering it permissible?

Answer:
No, my brother, we do not rule that he considers it permissible until he speaks and says it is lawful. As for merely committing it, Satan incites him, desires incite him, and the self incites him. So we do not rule that he is a persister who considers it permissible. We do not rule that he considers it permissible merely by his habituation to it and his continuation in it. Yes.