Acts 5:3, commentary and pictures

Ananias sold land and brought only part of the money while presenting it as the whole gift, falsely claiming to give all the proceeds. He was under no compulsion to give, for both the land and the money were fully his own to keep or to give in part, so his sin was not in withholding but in vowing the whole under the Spirit's influence and then deceiving about it. Satan filled his heart to carry out this fraud from cherished covetousness and love of money joined to desire for the honor given to liberal givers. To so deceive the apostles while professing to be moved by the Spirit was to lie to the Holy Spirit Himself, which is to lie to God, to tempt Him and rob Him. He was exposed by the Spirit's discernment and struck dead in swift judgment, which filled the church with fear, cleansed the young church from hypocrisy, and stands as a perpetual warning that a pledge to God is a sacred vow whose violation is just as heinous now though no visible punishment follows.

Ananias's Deceptive Act

Ananias kept back part of the price of the sold land while bringing a part as if it were the whole and pretending to give all the proceeds. His deceit was hypocrisy and falsehood carried out in agreement with Sapphira to appear to give all while secretly keeping a large share for themselves. He falsely reported the sale, saying the land sold for a certain sum when it sold for that sum and much more. In doing so he put the property below its true value while professing to consecrate it and to make a free-will offering of all his possessions to God.

The land while unsold and the money after sale were fully his own and in his own power, with no compulsion to give. He was free to give only part and God would have accepted it, and God had not required him to give everything. The sin was therefore not withholding money but falsely claiming the gift was the whole and presenting the deception as prompted by the Spirit. By pretending to be moved by the Holy Ghost and attempting to deceive the apostles he lied to the Holy Ghost, which is lying not to men but to God.

What he kept back was what he had pledged to God from the sale, made freely under deep conviction and the direct influence of the Holy Spirit attending the preaching. He and Sapphira had pledged certain lands to the Lord with no compulsion, while the land while unsold and the money after sale remained in his own power to keep or give. Once vowed, that consecrated portion was no longer his to withhold, and to take for personal use what had been pledged to advance God's work was sacrilege. A pledge made before fellow believers is a binding promise to God, not merely to people, and is no less binding than a financial obligation enforceable in court.

Satan and Wrong Motives

Satan filled Ananias's heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and carry out the deception of keeping back part of the price of the land while presenting a part as the whole. That keeping back was lying not to men but to God, agreeing to tempt the Spirit of the Lord, and it stands under the same condemnation God spoke from the pillar of cloud against Israel for coveting and taking the accursed things in Achan's sin, recorded as a testimony to the whole world of how God regards dishonesty. Jesus searched out the hidden iniquity as He had exposed Achan, and the Spirit of truth through the apostles revealed the pretenders and rid the church of this foul blot upon its purity.

The door was opened by drawing back after the pledge, for the pledge of certain lands had been made freely under deep conviction and the direct influence of the Spirit of God attending the preaching. When that heavenly influence lifted the impression lessened, Ananias and Sapphira questioned their pledge as too hasty and wished to reconsider, and by that drawing back a door was opened by which Satan at once entered and gained control of their minds. They regretted the promise, talked it over together, and deliberately agreed to pretend to give the whole amount while secretly withholding part.

The lie is traced to covetousness and selfishness first cherished, to love of money and worship of mammon while professing to serve God, producing hypocrisy, falsehood, fraud, dissembling and a deliberate lie to the Holy Spirit. By professing to serve God while worshiping mammon, Ananias pretended to give the whole price while keeping back part and withholding from the treasury means entrusted for the advancement of the cause, and the Holy Spirit revealed the deceit to the apostles. The same temptation to dissemble for love of money continues by various plans and excuses to withhold means entrusted for advancing the cause.

They had seen the high esteem given to believers who gave to supply the poor, and they wanted to appear entirely self-sacrificing and liberal without the sacrifice, to gain high reputation and honor. They agreed together to appear to give all while secretly keeping a large share for themselves, intending to draw support from the common fund while grudging what was solemnly dedicated to God, ashamed to have brethren know their selfish souls. Their sin was desiring commendation for good deeds while unwilling to give all, hoping to be thought liberal and self-denying while laying only the rest at the apostles' feet, and they were free to give only part which would have been accepted, so the guilt lay in seeking both money and the esteem of believers through pretense to win a reputation for generosity and devotion.

Those not wholly consecrated to God can be led to do Satan's work while believing they are serving Christ. The deception showed that the Spirit's work had not cleansed every person of dishonest tendencies, for it arose from selfishness and covetousness while presenting himself as giving the whole. Hidden fraud and every unjust, selfish act are known to God and will be brought to judgment.

Lying to the Holy Spirit

To keep back part of the price while presenting a part as if it were the whole is to lie to the Holy Spirit, to conceive fraud in the heart and then carry it out in deception. The withholding itself, after promising to give, is not merely deception toward people but a deliberate lie to the Holy Spirit prompted by Satan after covetousness had taken hold, and breaking that pledge brought fearful judgment. Once a portion was vowed to God that consecrated portion was no longer one's own to withhold, and falsely presenting the gift as complete while keeping back what was pledged is a serious offense against God whose punishment stands as a lasting warning even when no conspicuous punishment follows now. Such deceptive, underhanded dealing in the Lord's work, when it is not straightforward but oppressive and unjust, conniving at fraud and diverting God's means into a wrong channel, will just as surely bring punishment and judgment against the wrongdoer in order that truth shall triumph.

That lie is not to men but to God, to God Almighty; it is fraud in dealing with God, tempting the Spirit of the Lord, defrauding the Lord, sacrilege, and robbing God. To carry out the deception, to conceive it in the heart and keep back what was pledged after pledging certain lands to the Lord under the direct influence of the Spirit attending the preaching, is to lie not unto men but unto God and defraud the Lord who searched them out. Taking for personal use what has been pledged to advance God's work is sacrilege and will be judged, for a pledge made before fellow believers is a binding promise to God, not merely to people, no less binding than a financial obligation enforceable in court. An offering made by withholding part of the price while presenting it as an offering is not acceptable to Him but is an attempt to rob God. This dishonest practice meets severe judgment, the same condemnation once spoken from the pillar of cloud against Israel for coveting and taking the accursed things in Achan's sin, recorded as a testimony to the whole world of how God regards dishonesty.

Attempting to deceive the disciples and apostles by pretending to be moved by the Holy Ghost was an attempt to deceive God. The property while unsold and the money after sale were fully one's own, in one's own power to keep or give with no compulsion to contribute, yet the sin was pretending that the voluntary, partial gift was the whole proceeds prompted by the Spirit while seeking both money and the esteem of believers. Having seen the high esteem given to givers who supplied the poor, the agreement together was to appear to give all while secretly keeping a large share, intending to draw support from the common fund and gain honor while grudging what was dedicated to God. That pretense, springing from hypocrisy, falsehood, selfishness and covetousness which God hates, was fraud in dealing with God Almighty, a lie not to men but to God whom no holy God can excuse.

God searches the heart and knows the exact truth, motives, and purposes that cannot be hidden; He detects hidden sin and cannot be deceived or mocked. The couple thought the church, the brethren, would never know what was kept, but God searched their hearts and knew their motives and purposes, reading the heart and knowing the exact truth. Fraud and dishonest use of funds devoted to God's cause are sins against the Holy Spirit, known to God even when concealed and subject to His judgment, though every person is left to be his own assessor and to give as he purposes in his heart in the tithing system and systematic giving. False testimony before people is ultimately answerable to God, and lying to God is fearful for this reason. Their example is given as a perpetual warning to Christians of all ages to beware of the sin of withholding a portion of what God claims to which human hearts are continually inclined.

God hates fraud, hypocrisy, falsehood, and dissembling, counts as a lie what people might not regard as a lie, and regards prevarication and lying as a fearful enormity and abhorrence that destroys the sinner. Saying land sold for a certain sum when it sold for that sum and much more, keeping back part while pretending to make a free-will offering of all possessions in consecration to God and putting down property below its true value while professing to consecrate it, is what some would not count as a lie but God counted as a lie and dissembling to Him, and swift retribution followed. Pretending to give all while withholding some, after pledging to God from covetous desire to keep part of the money, is fraud and hypocrisy encouraged by Satan's influence, a grave sin against sacred promises. Such deceit is hateful to Him and destroys the sinner, and the same sin remains heinous even when punishment is not visibly immediate. Prevarication, falsehood and lying are not slight evils but an enormity of sin God regards with abhorrence, meeting immediate death, and Christian fathers should use that judgment to impress children's minds with its enormity, praying with them and correcting them rather than leaving the impression that deceit is a small matter.

Judgment Guarding the Church

The exposure by Peter was followed by immediate, sudden death, a swift and terrible manifestation of divine judgment and a signal display of wrath and retributive justice. The selfish dishonesty that kept part of the price while giving the impression of surrendering the whole brought sudden punishment that warns deceivers they will face judgment. The lie was met at once because prevarication, falsehood and lying are not slight evils but an enormity God regards with abhorrence.

Peter and the apostles knew the true state of the case by the impression and evidence of the Spirit of God, and it was the Holy Spirit who revealed the deceit and exposed the hidden sin. That discernment strengthened the confidence of believers in the apostles and in the message they preached. The open evidence of the Spirit's discerning presence made hypocrites and evildoers fear to remain in connection with those who in habit and disposition were constant representatives of Christ.

The death brought great fear to all who heard and excited reverential awe in all the new converts. That fear produced greater caution and more thorough self-examination testing the motives of actions. The judgment thus checked hypocrisy and taught the church reverence by exposing hidden motives.

The death was a marked judgment upon avaricious hypocrites that forever rid the church of this foul blot upon its purity and removed this stain from the church. Infinite Wisdom knew the check was needed to guard the rapidly increasing and rapidly growing young church from disgrace, demoralization and stain amid the rapid increase of professed Christians. It was God's retributive justice making them an example to warn all who profess Christ afterward to fear and tremble at repeating such sins, and it stands as a perpetual terror to hypocrites and evildoers. God requires faithfulness in the performance of vows and judges selfishness and fraud in withholding from Him what He claims for diffusing light and truth.

There have ever been two classes among professed followers of Christ, one studying the Saviour's life to correct defects and conform to the Pattern, the other shunning plain practical truths that expose error, so that even in her best estate the church was not wholly true, pure and sincere. Ananias and Sapphira belonged to those who professed godliness while secretly cherishing iniquity, joining as false and unworthy brethren and acting as deceivers and pretenders. Their presence does not discredit Christianity, and Christians should not become disheartened by false brethren, for Christ bears patiently with people and does not want to lose any soul. While trials and persecution continued only those willing to forsake all for truth's sake desired to become disciples and the church remained comparatively pure, but when persecution ceased less sincere and devoted converts were added and the way was opened for Satan to obtain a foothold.

The deaths were afterward falsely used by the Jewish priests and rulers in council, who charged the apostles with murdering Ananias and Sapphira. They joined that charge with insurrection and conspiring to deprive the priests of their authority and put them to death. They made it to excite the mob to seize the apostles and treat them as Jesus had been treated, because they feared that those weary of priestly rule would accept the teaching that Jesus is the Messiah and turn in anger against the priests for the murder of Christ.

Links to Other Scripture

The keeping back of part of the price while bringing a part as if it were the whole was lying to the Holy Spirit, which is lying not to men but to God and joining to tempt the Spirit of the Lord. That dishonest practice met severe judgment, the same condemnation God spoke from the pillar of cloud against Israel for coveting and taking the accursed things. As He had exposed Achan, so Jesus searched out this hidden iniquity, and the case stands recorded as a testimony to the whole world of how God regards dishonesty. The judgment on Ananias and Sapphira warns the church in every age that the sins which brought God's wrath on ancient Israel still bring judgment on the church.

The same principle led Judas to steal from the Lord's treasury, for there have ever been two classes among professed followers, one seeking to correct defects by the Pattern and the other shunning plain truths that expose error and secretly cherishing iniquity while professing godliness. Ananias acted as such a deceiver by pretending to make an entire sacrifice while covetously withholding a portion, and the discerning Spirit of Christ revealed his real character so that judgment forever rid the church of this foul blot as a terror to hypocrites and evildoers. Like Judas, he cherished evil under profession, hated reproof and betrayed reprovers when opportunity came. His sin came from covetousness and reasoning that his labor was not sufficiently appreciated, so he paid himself according to his own ideas, the first departure from truthful dealing that must be stopped because it is the same reasoning by which workers who feel underpaid take money or goods to supply the lack.

Withholding a portion of what God claims applies directly to the tithing system and systematic giving, where each person is to be his own assessor and is left to give as he purposes in his heart, yet to keep back part while thinking the brethren will never know is to lie to the Holy Spirit. God searches the heart and the motives and purposes of men cannot be hidden from Him, and selfishness hardens the heart to withhold part of what is owed while pretending to follow God's requirements, which is robbing Him. Their example is given as a perpetual warning to Christians of all ages to beware of the sin to which human hearts are continually inclined. That Ananias and Sapphira were slain of the Lord because they lied to the Holy Spirit proves that God has not changed but is the same God in the gospel as He was in the time of ancient Israel. Deceiving about property to conceal covetousness is lying to God who reads the purposes and motives of the heart, and no one can escape responsibility for entrusted means by transferring them to a wife or children, for human beings are God's property and no one can defraud God and prosper.

Warnings for Believers Today

A pledge to the cause of God is a vow made to God and not to man, entered when the heart is softened by the presence of the Spirit, witnessed by heavenly angels, with brethren as visible witnesses of a contract between the giver and God. That vow is more binding than any legal bond and is not less binding because it will not be tried in courts of justice, being no less binding than a financial obligation enforceable in court. To appropriate to one's own use or take back for personal use what was pledged to advance God's sacred work of diffusing light and truth is sacrilege and robbing God.

The sin of keeping back what was pledged is just as heinous now as then, though no visible mark of God's displeasure follows and no conspicuous punishment accompanies it as it did for Ananias and Sapphira. Guilt rests upon every individual in proportion to like offenses, for falsely presenting a gift as complete while keeping back what was pledged is lying to the Holy Spirit and not merely deception toward people. Each person has a case pending in the court of Heaven where conduct and vows and actions are weighed in the balance of justice, and broken vows will surely be visited upon the transgressor in the day of Judgment. Many feel the curse of God even in this life for such unfaithfulness, and the final punishment will be no lighter though God's visible displeasure may not come at once.

The same temptation to dissemble for love of money continues by various plans and excuses to withhold from God's treasury means entrusted for the advancement of His cause. If the same punishment fell now there would be many dead bodies in churches requiring burial, so widespread is this withholding. God does not accept reluctant, inadequate offerings when people lavishly spend on self-gratification while withholding what they ought to give, for Ananias and Sapphira's offering was rejected because they planned to withhold part of what they had promised. A gift's value is measured not only by its amount but by the self-denial it costs, and only an offering made freely and sacrificially is precious and acceptable to God, while one made to rob God is rejected.

When dealings in the Lord's work are not straightforward but deceptive, underhanded, oppressive, unjust, using lawyers to take advantage, exacting exorbitant prices, conniving fraud, and diverting God's means into a wrong channel, God will just as surely punish the actors and pass judgment against the wrongdoer as He did Ananias and Sapphira, in order that truth shall triumph. Such deceptive work is lying not to men but to God and tempting the Spirit of the Lord by conceiving fraud in the heart. Claiming unfair pay does not make secretly taking funds right, for such dishonesty gives Satan influence, corrupts the conscience, and puts integrity and spiritual life in danger.

Those who handle sacred things and carry responsibility must put away selfishness and deception and underhand dealing and all selfish meanness, and cultivate justice, equity, truth, and the Christian graces. They must forsake sin and turn to God and be faithful stewards who exemplify the mind of Christ with strict integrity in every transaction, rather than bringing their own selfish traits into the service and marring God's cause by making God to serve with their sins. The sudden punishment of Ananias and Sapphira, whose deceit the Holy Spirit exposed and read in the heart, shows God's condemnation of dishonest dealing and Christ's deep contempt for all deception, and the same Spirit today condemns it. Their desire for commendation for good deeds while unwilling to give all, hoping to be thought liberal and self-denying, cost them both the life that now is and the life to come.

That judgment is a lesson on the responsibility resting on those who stand in high positions of trust not to become careless and pass by sin and transgression in their midst. Those who profess to keep the commandments of God must keep every one, and ministering angels take note of neglect of duty. Hidden sins, deception, falsehood, and moral corruption among those who claim to be God's children will cause loss of God's favor unless the evil is separated from the camp. The influence of one unrepentant sinner is defiling and corrupts many others, and no one can defraud God and prosper, since human beings are God's property.

Prevarication, falsehood, and lying are not slight evils but an enormity of sin that God regards with abhorrence, and Christian fathers should use that immediate judgment of death upon Ananias and Sapphira to impress the minds of their children with its enormity, praying with them and correcting them rather than leaving the impression that deceit is a small matter. Withholding part of the price while presenting the gift falsely was lying to the Holy Spirit and to God, who reads the heart and knows the exact truth, and not merely a lie to other people. False testimony before people is ultimately answerable to God.

Ananias and Sapphira's fraud was the first instance and first case of deception and falsehood in the newly formed church, arising amid the Holy Spirit's work and revealing selfish and covetous character, though they were not compelled to give up their property. God exposed and judged it decisively, using it as a warning example against misrepresenting truth and sacrificing truth to gain favor and a reputation for generosity and complete self-sacrifice without actually making it. An institution that misrepresents Christ through dishonest practices bears a reputation like theirs, for hidden, unjust actions are known to Him and will be punished.