Why is the Law compared to a mirror?
The Law is compared to a mirror because it can only show a person what is wrong and needs cleansing; it cannot reach out and clean them. Like a mirror, the Law was perfect but powerless, condemning and unable to help anyone keep it.
Les explains the illustration by picturing someone coming in from an afternoon working in the yard on a hot summer day, sweaty and grimy. When they look in the mirror, the mirror can only show what is wrong and what needs cleaning up. The mirror will never reach out and clean them; it is helpless and weak. In the same way, the Law sat in cold stone, was severe, condemned, and did nothing to help the person keep it. The Ten Commandments were perfect, but they were powerless. The indwelling Holy Spirit, by contrast, is warm and loving and gives the desire to live pleasing in God's sight.
How is the Law like a mirror?
The Law is like a mirror because it reveals what is wrong and what needs cleaning up, but it cannot cleanse the person. It shows the defect yet has no power to fix it. Like a mirror, it is helpless and weak, exposing the problem but unable to correct it.
What does the Law as a mirror do?
The Law as a mirror reveals what is wrong and needs cleaning up, but it is powerless to cleanse. It shows the problem without providing help or power to change. It is perfect yet weak, condemning but unable to enable obedience.