(2) Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the (d) flesh?
(2) The fourth argument mixed with the former, and it is twofold. If the Law is to be joined with faith, this were not to go forward, but backward, seeing that those spiritual gifts which were bestowed upon you are more excellent than any that could proceed from yourselves. And moreover, it would follow, that the Law is better than Christ, because it would perfect and bring complete that which Christ alone began.
(d) By the "flesh" he means the ceremonies of the Law, against which he sets the Spirit, that is, the spiritual working of the Gospel.