1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
2Jn 1:6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
That right there came directly from Jesus in John's Gospel. The above should be "discipleship 101" for the newly saved. Also not bad parenting advice:)
There is a two fold message here. The commandments "Big 10" as you call them is what God uses to convict us we are sinners and are doomed. Jesus (Yeshua) elaborates on this by saying "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Right there we are most certainly doomed because no way are we EVER going to come near or a sniff to the edge of The Father's Perfection. Thus, the law is used to convict the sinner to set their sites on Mt Zion instead of Mt Sinai. And God leads us there as well, all His doing.
The second part of the message John is giving us is that the same law that condemned us and we were in rebellion against and we hated because we hated the Light of it; is now our tutor, mentor and guide to pleasing God (that is not a work unto salvation). We are no longer under the condemnation of the law and no lonter fear it, we now love it because we know it is Holy because it came from God's Heart, and now that we are a new creature we love it because He loved us first. The fire (the law) no longer burns us in judgement, it is now like a fire place keeping us warm in our homes, a companion not an enemy.
I don't know exactly what it is, but I have always held a particular affinity for John's works. While his are undoubtedly the most spiritual of the new testament books, with many layers and dimensions upon contemplation, they are also the most simplistic and straightforward, and exude above all, the love of John for His Master. That balance of simplicity in complication, asceticism in reality, delivered with personal closeness and calming love is something to be greatly admired. People dwell too much in Peter and Paul, and not enough in John, I think.
We are no longer under the condemnation of the law and no lonter fear it, we now love it because we know it is Holy because it came from God's Heart, and now that we are a new creature we love it because He loved us first. The fire (the law) no longer burns us in judgement, it is now like a fire place keeping us warm in our homes, a companion not an enemy.
That is a really great statement - When one is within the House of YHWH one will naturally keep His way, just as one keeps the ways of one's earthly father. The things of my father I could not understand, I one time rebelled against, even as my children rebelled against me... But with age and pain and experience, I came to find out the wisdom of my father, and those very things which once caused rebellion in me I now follow and honor, and I praise my father for having shown them to me... Right living. Sometimes right living doesn't look right until one experiences the long run.
So it is with our Father - The longer I have lived, and the harder I bucked against the traces, the more I hurt myself and those around me. With age comes wisdom, and now I long for peace... And peace comes from YHWH. Every_word_out_of_His_Mouth. When I keep His ways, and hearken to Him, I find peace, comfort, joy and love. In that, Torah is a fire that warms me, as you said - but it is still the very law that will convict the Fallen Ones, and all who follow in their way.
Thanks for your reply.