¹But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, ²and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet. ³But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? ⁴While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” ⁵And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it. ⁶The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.

In contrast to Barnabas, whom Luke showcased as a genuine example of benevolence, another person comes on the scene as an example of deception and selfishness, ending up on the wrong side of history. Ananias was a “Benedict Arnold” of the early church, for he betrayed the warm, open fellowship of the foundling church. His moment of fame (presumably being well-thought-of for being generous) was short lived—literally!

On the surface, the story is straightforward: a man and his wife colluded together to sell “a piece of property” under the direction of Satan and not by the influence of the Holy Spirit. They only gave part of the proceeds for the benevolence effort. But the issue was not how much of the proceeds they gave, for it was fully theirs to give or not to give (“under your control”). Something evil was going on in their hearts in this matter. Their sin is that they were attempting to pass themselves off as being more generous than they were. Peter identified this when he said, “You have not lied to men but to God.” The sin was one of deception, and to sin against the church is to sin against God! When Jesus confronted Saul, who had been harassing the Christians, He said, “[W]hy are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9). God takes all sin against the church personally.

But why was Peter being so harsh in condemning this couple? First, he was conveying God’s judgment and it was He who executed the judgment. Second, we will see that his wife had an opportunity to acknowledge her sin and presumably to repent of it. We have no record of such opportunity for Ananias, probably because the resolve in his heart was unbending. Even so, why such harsh treatment for a “little” lie? The Lord was establishing that the fear of God is not negated by grace; deliberate deception will not be tolerated, especially in the founding period of the church (see Acts 5:11). King David understood this when, after being confronted with his “secret” sin with Bathsheba, he wrote, “You desire truth in the innermost being” (Ps. 51:6).

Lord, help me be authentic and not present myself as better than I am.