In the New Oxford Annotated Bible (NOAB), Deuteronomy 30 and Acts 15 both relay the message to follow the law of Moses and to constantly have faith in the Lord. Deuteronomy more-so focuses on the reward that is given to those who constantly have faith in the Lord and they fact there is an afterlife. In Deuteronomy 30 those who obey the Lord will live a long, happy life and will go to heaven in the end. Many books do not believe in an afterlife but Deuteronomy believes in an afterlife. It also gives rewards to those who follow the Lord and condemns those who disobey him. In Acts 15 it is argued that the Gentiles do not need to know the Torah because God created them and he also accepts them. Only four commandments are given to the Gentiles but God accepts them for who they are so therefore so should everyone else. Acts 15 does not believe in the system of an afterlife but it still necessary to always obey the Lord. Although Deuteronomy 30 and Acts 15 are completely different, they both encourage people to follow the law of Moses because God created us and we should respect him for it.
In Deuteronomy 30 it is strongly noted to follow all and any rules that the Lord has put in place. Even if the Lord puts a person through hell and back, that person cannot lose faith in the Lord. If someone is given misfortune and yet they still continue to have faith in the Lord then the Lord will restore their fortunes and compassion on them (Deut 30:2-30:3). If someone is exiled and they remain faithful to the Lord then the Lord will bring them back into the land of their ancestors and will give them full control (Deut 30:4-30:5). In Deuteronomy is it important to continue to believe in the Lord even if a bad hand is dealt to someone because that person will return to happiness as long as they kept believing. According to Deuteronomy 30:15, the Lord has set forth your life, prosperity, death and adversity. This means that you owe it to him to follow his commandments because of all he has given you. If one does not follow the Lord’s commandments then they shall perish, have a shortened life and will not go to heaven (Deut 30:18). For those who do obey the Lord, they will be rewarded with a long, prosperous life and will go to heaven (Deut 30:19). The basic message of Deuteronomy is that if you follow the Lord’s path no matter what is thrown your way then you will be rewarded. In Acts 15, the discussion between whether or not Gentiles should be held responsible for everything in the Torah. God sent Barnabas and Paul to Jerusalem in order to discuss the Gentiles situation (Acts 15:2). In Acts 15:3-15:4, Paul announces that God has accepted the Gentiles and so should everyone else. However, Pharisees disagrees with him and says that the Gentiles need to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses in order to be accepted (Acts 15:5). This then lead to Peter standing up and arguing that they do not need to know the Torah due to the fact an experienced God had sent the Gentiles (15:7-15:9). Nobody should test God about the Gentiles because in the end everyone will be saved (Acts 15:11). Peter argues that we should accept the Gentiles without the Torah because the Gentiles have experience and prophets with them. It is agreed that the Gentiles must obey the following rules in order to be accepted; no idols, no fornication, nothing strangled and no blood (Acts 15:20). In Acts 15 it is encouraged to be perfect because Jesus is perfect and to ensure the law does not get broken. In both Deuteronomy 30 and Acts 15 it is encouraged to follow the rules the Lord has given us in order to be content. The Lord gave us a set of commandments to follow for a reason and we should respect him for that. God instill us with faith and we should repay him with continuing to show our faith in them. However in
