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John 3:16 and Acts 2?
John 3:16 and Peter’s Sermon on Pentecost?
Have you noticed the similarities between John 3:16 and Peter’s sermon on Pentecost?
1A – “For God so loved the world”
1B – After being shocked and devasted by the news they had crucified the Son of God, they asked, “What must we do?” (Acts 2:37) which means they had hope! They knew the God of their ancestors was a loving, merciful, and graceful God! That is the meaning of the Hebrew word hesed, the Covenant word of the Old Testament.
2A – “That He gave”
2B – “he was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge” (Acts 2:23).
3A – “His only begotten Son”
3B – He is the same as “This Jesus of Nazareth” who was “attested to you by God” (Acts 2:22).
4A – “That whoever”
4B – “This promise is for you, and for your children, and for all who are far off” (Acts 2:39); that’s “whoever”.
5A – “believes in Him”
5B – By being “pierced to the heart” (Acts 2:37), they show they believed in the identity of Jesus, along with His resurrection and ascension. By asking, “What must we do?” (Acts 2:37), we see they needed to act on their belief. They still didn’t know what was required of them in faith. They had been told, “whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21), but how do you call on the name of the Lord? Belief includes “repenting and being baptized in the name of the Jesus Christ” (Acts 2:38), who has been made Lord (Acts 2:26).
6A – “Should not perish”
6B – They needed “forgiveness of sins” (Acts 2:38) in order to be “saved” (Acts 2:40). Those who “received his message” to be saved from that corrupted generation, “were baptized” (Acts 2:40-41).
7A – But have eternal life.
7B – This is the “gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38) which is life as seen in the original prophecy of Joel 2:32 (Acts 2:21)
Is John 3:16 teaching anything different than what Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost? No!
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