Why was Saul of Tarsus still fleshly despite being religious?

Saul of Tarsus remained fleshly because his inner motivating power was not the things pleasing to God. Instead, he opposed God's work by stamping out those who recognized Jesus as the Christ. His religious zeal did not change his carnal condition, since he rejected Jesus as the promised Christ.

Les explains that Saul was carnal and fleshly even though he was religious. The motivating power within him was not the things pleasing to God, but quite the contrary, because he was stamping out those who recognized Jesus was indeed the Christ. Les connects this to the mindset of Saul and all the religious Jews of Jesus' day, who were constantly against Him because they could not believe that He was the Christ, the one promised all the way back from Genesis chapter 12.

Why was Saul of Tarsus carnal and fleshly even though he was religious?

Saul of Tarsus was carnal and fleshly because, despite his religion, the motivating power within him was not pleasing to God. He opposed God's purposes by stamping out those who recognized Jesus as the Christ, unable to believe Jesus was the promised Messiah.