The mind and heart of man can only bring him so far along towards acknowledging his creator. The mind operates with its intellectual capacity and logic then demands it be trusted. The heart operates with its emotions, and signals feelings which are then trusted. But neither of these capacities can fully express faith in God–though both support and aid it. For faith to be expressed in its full capacity the soul must be called upon to lead the way. For our soul is the very breath of God himself. Our soul is that divine nature within us that connects us to our creator. It is our soul that ultimately finds relevance from union with God. Mind and heart aid faith, but the soul is the conduit.
Thus for faith to exist and be fully expressed by finding ultimate relevance and purpose in God, one must acknowledge and come into full awareness of his own soul. When man looks within himself and finds his true self, as a created being made in the image of God, he becomes aware of the divine breath that is within him. This breath, this soul, the Neshamah, can then connect outwardly to the God who breathed it. The mind and the heart look within and behold the soul is there! Wonderfully expressing the image of God himself. And then man looking within, with all three of his faculties (mind, heart, and soul) begins to take hold of that image and see the one who formed him. He finds the image of God by looking within. Now his capacities all together are ready to find ultimate relevance with God himself personally and man’s faith begins to be expressed.
And God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and they shall rule over. . . all the earth. And God created man in His image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:26-27
This is the first instance where mankind is mentioned in scripture. Being this is the first mention of man then this must also be of first importance. Before God utters any commandments or instructions for man to live by, God expresses man’s nature as being made in the image of God. This then is of utmost importance. How can we expect to have any outward expressions of faith, religious devotion, worship, or mitzvah keeping, with proper reverence to God without first recognizing our own selves and our nature. Once we acknowledge our soul and the divine spark that is within us, then and only then can faith begin to operate in its full capacity and initiate the path to a Godly life.
What is faith?
Now that faith can operate and express itself because of the acknowledgment of the soul we possess, what exactly is faith? Well first what it is not. Faith is not believing in something that is unseen and thinking it exists while also possibly not existing. Faith isn’t believing in something you think is real and others think is not real. Faith is your soul’s connection to and finding ultimate relevance in that which is transcendent and eternal. Something that is transcendent and eternal cannot be analyzed as to whether it's real or not real. That’s an illogical debate. Because that which is transcendent and eternal is by nature beyond fully grasping and comprehending. But, through faith man is able to find relevance and purpose with that which is transcendent. So our faith is ultimately finding our relevance and purpose in our relationship with the Eternal One.
When we see our soul as the breath of God and we see our faith as expressing our relevance with God we can conclude that our life has purpose. This confident acknowledgment of purpose for our life and knowing God is the author of that purpose is faith manifested. Knowing these things allows us to then act–that is to express faith. Faith is not merely a belief or intellectual adherence to a belief system. The Hebrew word in scripture for faith is Emunah, from the root Uman. This is a verb, not a noun. As a verb it implies action. Living a Godly life by faith is not merely knowing our life has purpose and relevance with God, rather its acting out that purpose and relevance. The bible uses the life of the Patriarch Abraham, the Father of Faith, as a grand example of a life of acting upon and expressing faith. What does God himself say specifically about Abraham that gives him this title?
Because Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My instructions. Genesis 26:5
We see with Abraham God indicates faith as an action, a constant doing something specific while also trusting in and obeying God. Real faith is vibrant, an active pursuit of acting upon and doing God’s will, and nurturing and cultivating it. Faith is reciprocal in nature–God expresses His will and man acts accordingly. Then God rewards and man responds. It’s a continual process, an action and a re-action. That’s how a living relationship works and the reciprocal nature keeps things moving forward, just as a reciprocating motor drives a gear in motion. Man’s faith in God is also faith ‘with’ God, by working together to bring about the divine will. This example of Abraham expressing his faith by doing God’s will–by working with God–also is why Abraham was called “God’s friend” (or literally “beloved of God” per Isaiah 41:8, also see NT James 2:23). Faith is expressed in our living in accordance with the will of God.
A Living Faith
Now that we have an idea of what faith is, let's get into its practical application. For the one who believes in God and his soul has found relevance and purpose in God, he will then begin to live out that faith. For it is written “A righteous person shall live through his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). What does it mean to live through faith? If a person truly believes that God is the purpose of his life, the source of life, and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him–then loving obedience to God will be manifested in one’s life. Again–Faith, love, trusting, in God, are all verbs and actions where one is actively doing and participating. What are the things we are supposed to be doing and participating in with God? Well that is essentially what this book attempts to answer and unfold throughout the chapters to come.
Living in accordance with the will of God is what we as faithful believers are supposed to actively be doing. Just like Abraham Avinu, our foremost example of a life well lived through faith. We are to hearken to God’s voice, keep his charge, keep his commandments, statutes, and instructions. All of these things together can be summed up in the Hebrew phrase “Shamar Torah”. To “Shamar” is to carefully watch over, guard, and protect. “Torah” is the Word of God, with its various statutes, instructions, and laws, for life. When we “hearken” unto this Word of God, we hear and do, this action then becomes a “mitzvah”. Mitzvah can literally mean “obeying a commandment”, but that does not express the lively and relationship aspect this word in Hebrew really implies, a better definition is “To draw near to God”. Obeying God by heeding his Word and instructions and obeying his commandments is itself man’s opportunity to “draw near to God”. Mitzvah are really relationship opportunities with God. Our obedience is not only an expression of faith, it essentially is our faith–our purpose and relevance with God is manifested in our relationship with him by our actions.
What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has no actions [Mitzvah]? Can such faith save him? Faith on its own, without action [obedience] is dead. . . Show me your faith apart from your actions, and I by my actions will show you my faith. James 2:18
The above commentator very well expresses what the whole of the Hebrew scriptures teach, while defending against his first century opponents that distorted and spoke erroneously about the nature of faith. His main opponent made faith an intellectual acknowledgement and an emotional expression. James on the other hand understood that the Abrahamic faith was one expressed through one's life in his actions and his obedience to God (doing Mitzvah, or as some translations use the word “works”). Faith is not merely a belief or intellectual acknowledgement about God. As James says “You believe that there is one God, so what, even the demons believe that” (James 2:19). Intellectual acknowledgement about God himself, or even acknowledging and believing in some story about God or some certain “doctrine” or creed is not faith. Faith is living, it's doing and acting in accordance with God’s revealed will and obeying and doing his instructions. Faith is fueled by our desire to draw near to God through obedience and action.
Establishing that faith is lived out in obedience to God, heeding his commands and his laws, we must come to trust in God’s word. There is no benefit in acknowledging that faith should be lived out in actions, then not trusting the commandments that are to dictate those actions. If a son believes that his father knows best and has the son's best interest in mind, and that father gives his son instructions, yet the son questions the validity of the instructions, then the son does not truly believe his father actually does know best. A living faith and trust in God, our father, is expressed in trusting God’s word and accepting his commandments without question. By faith we obey the commandment even if we cannot fully comprehend it, let alone come to complete intellectual rationalization of said commandment. If a father tells his young son not to touch the hot stove, that son does not need to understand all the intellectual details of why or how exactly the stove got hot in the first place or what that even entails. Simply heeding his father’s word the son will do well.
For example, when God commands his people to keep the Sabbath day holy, to work six days and to rest on the seventh, a complete intellectual understanding of all the details of this command is not essential. Are there practical reasons for this command? Surely, but what matters first and foremost is our “drawing near to God” by obeying this command. We need to trust God’s word and that his commandments are all perfect, just, and good. We obey all his commandments by faith. This obedience itself is faith and it is trusting in God’s word fully that initiates the action.
Over time as our spiritual capacities grow and develop, by keeping commands and doing Mitzvah, we come to understand more and more the beautiful details that are behind each commandment. Some commandments we may never fully comprehend, but this does not excuse us from performing them. At an early age we may come to fully understand and appreciate why God commands us to “honor your father and mother”, but through years and years of obeying the command “do not mix wool and linen into a single garment” we may never fully comprehend. But both commandments we keep with zeal and delight and love for God who gave us the commandment to draw near to him by.
Without doubting we keep the commandments through faith and by our love and devotion to God knowing that our obedience is drawing us close to him. Our intellectual capacity to understand God’s word and his commandments will come over time as we live out our faith in obedience. Devotion to studying God’s word and being advised from the Sages and Scholars of Torah is a noble endeavor towards finding balance between our intellectual, emotional, and spiritual faculties in the practice of faith and obedience. In fact, the endeavor to learn and meditate on Torah itself is a commandment.
And you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your means. And these words, which I command you this day, shall be upon your heart. And you shall teach them to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk on the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.” Deuteronomy 6:5-7
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