Why couldn't Israel keep the law in the flesh without the Holy Spirit?
The law was holy and perfect, yet it had no power within itself to help mortal man keep it. Without the Holy Spirit, Israel in the flesh could not begin to keep that perfect law; it became weak, beggarly, and a yoke they chafed under. Consequently, they could not come close.
Les explains that the law itself was holy and perfect, but it had no power to impart to man to keep it. Without the Holy Spirit’s power, a person in the flesh could not begin to keep that perfect law, so it became weak, beggarly, and a yoke poor old Israel constantly chafed under. Les says they could not even come close. The problem was not the law’s character but its inability to help the law keeper keep it. By contrast, under grace Les says we have something far better: the righteousness of the law can now be fulfilled in Grace Age believers because of the power of the Holy Spirit.