Galatians 3:3

The contrast is still maintained in other terms. Here the -flesh" is used for that which is external and material, compliance with outward observances, as opposed to the spiritual principle of faith. These two "are contrary the one to the other". It is folly, having begun your Christian life spiritually (Galatians 3:2), to finish it carnally to descend from the higher to the lower, from the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus to the law of sin and death. The same collocation of the verbs -begin" and -finish" is found, Philippians 1:6; comp. 2 Corinthians 8:6.