120 The Spiritual Man
too well that the sins of the flesh could not possibly perfect what was
begun in the Holy Spirit. That they desired to perfect with their flesh
what the Holy Spirit had initiated proves that to arrive at a perfect
position they were depending upon the ability of their flesh to do
good. They had truly made an arduous attempt to do good, but the
Apostle shows us here that the righteous acts of the flesh and the
works of the Holy Spirit are worlds apart. What one does by the flesh
is done by himself. It can never perfect what the Holy Spirit has
begun.
In the preceding chapter the Apostle can be found uttering another
weighty word on this: “But if I build up again those things which I
tore down, then I prove myself a transgressor” (2.18). He was
pointing at those who, having been saved and having received the
Holy Spirit, still insisted on gaining righteousness according to law
(vv.16,17,21) through their own flesh. We have been saved through
faith in the Lord and not through our works: these are what Paul
meant by the things torn down. We know that he always had thrown
down the works of sinners, treating such deeds as absolutely
valueless in anyone’s salvation. Now if by doing righteously we try
to “build up again those things” which we have destroyed, then, Paul
concludes, “we prove ourselves a transgressor.” The Apostle is hence
telling us that inasmuch as sinners cannot be saved through their
efforts, so we who have been regenerated likewise cannot be
perfected through any righteous acts of our flesh. How vain do such
righteous deeds continue to be!
Romans 8 maintains that “those who are in the flesh cannot please
God” (v.8). It implies that the fleshly have tried, but unsuccessfully,
to please God. This of course refers specifically to the righteous acts
of the flesh which utterly fail to please God. Let us become
profoundly informed here of precisely what the flesh is able to do: it
is able to perform righteous deeds, and to do them expertly. We often
conceive of the flesh in terms of lust; we consequently consider it
strictly defiled, not realizing that it includes more than the lust side.