I think that the above verse is not well understood by many Christians. It took me more than 10 years of Bible study and self-observation to get a basic understanding of it; after I had spent several years becoming familiar with the whole Bible.
The basic mistake seems to be, one reads the text, then resolves to be good. Or something like that.
That is, he doesn’t realize that being good, resolving to accomplish some goal, etc. are commonly done by one’s own will power.
That is part of what the writer means by “human effort,” or by “walking in the flesh” as the KJV and other versions state it.
What I have come to understand:
One was saved by faith, believing that Christ died to pay his sin debt; and that Christ lived a righteous life that is imputed to the new believer by God the Father at the time of conversion.
The walk that follows must also be by faith.
It seems to me that one is acting in faith when he submits to God’s Spirit by putting himself under God’s appointed means of grace. That must also occur by prayer and faith, because it cannot be done by one’s will power, I have discovered.
The appointed means of grace humble a believer such that he might grow in grace, humility, and sanctification: the process is outlined in the beatitudes: becoming poor in spirit (being shown one’s spiritual bankruptcy) via the Holy Spirit; mourning his sin, being meeked, hungering and thirsting for God’s righteousness….
The means of grace humble a believer, showing him that he is sinful and helpless without Christ. He progresses in sanctification with each new discovery of his wretchedness and helplessness. These move him to depend more upon Christ’s Spirit and to turn away more from his self-reliance and other idols.
And none of that can occur unless one is very honest with himself and God about his sin towards God and other humans (self-observation; self-examination; confession of sin; ongoing repentance…are necessary tools to make such self-discoveries).
What are God’s appointed means of grace?
Bible reading; prayer; hearing the biblical gospel preached; taking the Lord’s supper; and fellowship around the word of God in Bible studies and prayer meetings. Baptism is a one-time act that is part of that process.
I am a Bible student, not a theologian or a preacher, so I might be missing some part of this process. But I have heard preachers teach this text and I noticed that they did not catch the errors in their own thinking, as they were implying that one must be good in his own strength while they also exhorted their subjects to not walk in the flesh. That is, they did not catch their self-contradictory exhortations.
From such experiences, I concluded that pastors don’t all know what it is to walk by faith either.
God the Holy Spirit teaches such things as He moves His Children to abide in His appointed means of grace.
May you seek God to do this in your own walk.
STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS:
Three recent posts on Jonathan Edwards spiritual journey support the above conclusions: to read these, see Categories: Jonathan Edwards, the posts are titled, Jonathan Edwards, A Glimpse Into His Spiritual Journey, based on a recent book by S. J. Lawson on Edwards 70 resolutions.