Acts 5:1-16 Their Sin

My commentary calls this section, "The Hypocrisy of Ananias and Sapphira."  Basically, they sold some of their land, which they had every right to do, since Christianity does not espouse Communism.  They chose to give part of the proceeds of the sale to the church; however, they made it sound like they'd turned over all of the proceeds from the sale.  "That was the sin of Ananias and Sapphira:  putting on a lovely front in order to conceal the shabby sin in their lives, sin that cost them their lives," my commentary said.

It enumerated several features of their sin:

1)  "It was energized by Satan.  If Satan cannot defeat the church by attacks from the outside, he will get on the inside and go to work.  He knows how to lie to the minds and hearts of church members, even genuine Christians, and get them to follow his orders."

2)  "Their sin was motivated by pride, and pride is a sin that God especially hates and judges."

3)  "Their sin was directed against God's church ... The fact that they were able to lie to the Spirit (v. 3) and tempt the Spirit (v. 9) would indicate that they had the Spirit of God living within ... Satan wants to destroy the church, and the easiest way to do it is to use those who are within the fellowship.  Had Peter not been discerning, Ananias and Sapphira would have become influential people in the church!  Satan would have been working through them to accomplish his purposes."

Father, make me extremely aware of Satan's attempts to do anything through me that might harm Your church, and direct me away from his attempts.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford