ature, or the passions rooted in it? Not only these, as may be seen by
noting the catalogue which follows of the things in the flesh, in which
he might have trusted. What are these? 'Circumcised the eighth day, of
the tribe of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the
Hebrews'--these belong to ritual and race; 'as touching the law a
Pharisee'--that belongs to ecclesiastical standing; 'concerning zeal
persecuting the church'--that has nothing to do with the animal nature:
'touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless'--that
concerns the moral nature. All these come under the category of the
'flesh,' which, therefore, plainly includes all that belongs to
humanity apart from God. Paul's old-fashioned language translated into
modern English just comes to this--it is vain to trust in external
connection with the sacred community of the Church, or in participation
in any of its ordinances and rites. To Paul, Christian rites and Jewish
rites were equally rites and equally insufficient as bases of
confidence. Do not let us fancy that dependence on these is peculiar to
certain forms of Christian belief. It is a very subtle all-pervasive
tendency, and there is no need to lift up Nonconformist hands in holy
horror at the corruptions of Romanism and the like. Their origin is not
solely priestly ambition, but also the desires of the so-called laity.
Demand creates a supply, and if there were not people to think, 'Now it
shall be well with me because I have a Levite for my priest,' there
would be no Levites to meet their wishes.

Notice that Paul includes amongst the things belonging to the flesh this
'touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless.' Many of us
can say the same. We do our duties so far as we know them, and are
respectable law-abiding people, but if we are trusting to that, we are
of the 'flesh.' Have we estimated what God is, and what the real worth
of our conduct is? Have we looked not at our actions but at our motives,
and seen them as they are seen from above or from the inside? How many
'blameless' lives are like the scenes in a theatre, effective and
picturesque, when seen with the artificial glory of the footlights? But
go behind the scenes and what do we find? Dirty canvas and cobwebs. If
we know ourselves we know that a life may have a fair outside, and yet
not be a thing to trust to.

The beginning of our Christianity is the consciousness that we are
'naked and poor, and blind,