Mirror, mirror on the wall, the wicked queen from the tale of Snow White always heard the same merciless truth. That image opens a reflection on another mirror: God’s law, which shows exactly who we are yet cannot change us (Romans 3). The sermon moves from an honest diagnosis, that there is no one righteous, not even one, to the gift of justification, which can be neither bought nor earned. Listen if you want to see what happens to a life that ends up in the hands of a master craftsman.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In Romans 3:10-18 Paul combines Old Testament passages and mentions the mind, throat, tongue, lips, feet and eyes. What does this picture say about how sin affects the whole person?
- Paul places both people without the Bible and those who knew God's law in front of the mirror of God's word. Why might this conclusion have been surprising and hard for his Jewish readers?
- The sermon says the law is like a mirror: it shows the truth but does not change us. In which areas of life are you most tempted to earn God's acceptance through your own effort?
- It is easier to see evil in a gunman or in a quarrel in a supermarket queue than in ourselves. What helps you look honestly at yourself in the mirror of God's word?
- Justification was compared to a debt that someone paid off, not one that was simply cancelled. How does this picture shape your understanding of the cross and the price Jesus paid?
- The story of the broken violin shows that the Master can repair what seems ruined. Which part of your life do you want to deliberately place in Jesus' hands this week?
