I ask myself today, why is the study of biblical daisies important?
In the hours before dawn I spent oodles of time pondering this.
In the end I decided it was because I think that the true meaning of biblical daisies has gotten twisted from the original – and only a study of all the daisies in the New Testament could prove the thought either true or false.
By the way, if you’re wondering what all this crazy talk of biblical daisies is – this post explains all the not so crazy-crazy. You kinda need it, or the subject of biblical daisies will be all gibberish-y. But if you do read it – you’ll heart the daisy craze!
For the last 500 years or so the word “works” has either been underemphasized and looked upon with disdain, or overemphasized and wrapped around people like the chains on the ghost of Jacob Marley that visited Ebenezer Scrooge.
And in all the hubbub about “works” all the nuances of the meaning have gotten lost. At least they were lost to me. I remember my post where I proudly announced there were two kinds of daisies. (here)
And yet this study has revealed five so far!
And then there’s the circular daisy quandary.
Paul says we are not saved by “works”,
but rather by our faith, through the grace of God.
however…
he also writes that we will be judged by our “works”.
And Our Lord himself said faith is a “work” (here)
And add to that, James’ writing that faith without “works” is useless.
And since I now know that there are at least five different kinds of daisies, maybe I should start thinking about:
which daisies we are judged upon,
and which daisies don’t “save”,
and without what kind of daisies faith is worthless.
And with that in mind I pick the next two daisies in Paul’s letter to the Romans.
First all the ripples of context.
The big context: Paul is writing a letter to the church at Rome. He planned on visiting them. This letter was kind of a sum up of his doctrine, so that when he got there his words would precede him.
The smaller context: how the law of Moses doesn’t do much “saving”
The context that’s on the way: how faith fits in.
The immediate context: how we are “saved” – apart from the law of Moses – through faith.
The daisy verses:
One daisy in each verse (Romans 3:27,28).
One declares what it’s color it is,
the other needs the context to show it’s color,
and both are yellow.
What occasion is there then for boasting? It is ruled out. On what principle, that of works [of the law of Moses]? No, rather on the principle of faith. For we consider that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
And the big surprise for me?
This time it’s not a daisy…
but a new “law”…
a “law” by which we are saved.
In my translation (NAB) it’s hidden in this verse. In yours it may not be.
Let me know if it is…
tomorrow – a diversion from daisies…
for a short, one day excursion…
into “law”…
because although there is the “law of Moses” that doesn’t save…
there are another two biblical “laws”…
that do.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
You have me thinking and wondering about all of this . .. again. And that’s a good thing! God bless you as you keep exploring His word and wonder!
Debbie, I’m thinking there are going to be a lot of yellow daisies in the writing of Paul. The yellow daisies aren’t so bad – when they’re handled the right way – The way, Jesus did it.
The early reformers did some truly awesome things – but they didn’t do us much good by lumping all of the daisies into one eminently hate-able word “works”. But then, they were just people like me, and like you, and nobody gets everything perfect. God bless you Debbie!
Craig, my head is so full and so spinning with the stuff of life, most recently, and i am thinking I need ‘Daisies for Dummies’. Seriously. I am reeling so just seeing the pictures speaks volumes to me. thank you so much that you speak with pictures, too.