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.
Les explains that the Law was like a mirror in that it could only show a person what was wrong and needed cleaning up. Coming in from yard work on a hot day, you see the sweat and grime, but the mirror will never reach out and clean you. It is helpless and weak. That was the Law: perfect but powerless, condemning and unable to help the person keep it. By contrast, the indwelling Holy Spirit is warm, loving, and gives the desire to live pleasing in God's sight.