Acts 5:1-11
When the Lord began to reveal to me the revelation of His abundant grace and goodness, it was a marvelous journey. It was akin to being saved all over again, as I saw just how much that the finished work of Christ had truly been finished. I was thrilled to learn new things about His forgiveness and His mercy as I searched the scriptures afresh. In His grace, life is truly abundant.
One passage that troubled me as I grew in this knowledge is found in the fifth chapter of Acts and it concerns the deaths of Ananias and his wife Sapphira. This story is an obvious case of God killing someone post-Calvary and it seemed very reminiscent of God’s dealings with Israel in the Old Testament. It seemed as if every day God was opening up His covenant to me showing me that He is no longer mad at mankind and that He had been appeased by the death of His Son on the cross, so why was He so obviously killing two of His children in Acts 5?
After much prayer and study, and several journeys into every commentary that I owned, I had nearly concluded that I would not find the answer. Nearly every commentator mentioned God’s wrath against sin and how some sins were so grievous that God would kill you on the spot if you committed them. Others taught that this story is a warning to the church that there is only so far that you should push God before people begin to die as part of His swift hand of judgment. I could not in good conscience accept these answers and still see God as having been propitiated at Calvary. Propitiation is “satisfaction”, and if God was satisfied, how could He punish a believer for failure?
The answer is found in the question that Peter asks Ananias, after Ananias lies to Peter concerning the price of the land that he has sold. “Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?” is a question that reveals who Ananias is. No believer can be filled with the Spirit of God and with Satan, for there is no room in the heart for two masters (Matthew 6:24). If Satan had filled their hearts then we know that Jesus did not live there.
The author of the book felt the same way apparently, as he refers to Ananias as “a certain man” in verse 1. Only non-believers were referred to in this generic way in the book of Acts (Acts 10:1; 16:16) with believers being “certain disciples” (Acts 9:36), or “certain prophets and teachers” (Acts 13:1).
When a sinner rejects Christ long enough, there is nothing left for them but certain death. Having said “no” to Jesus, they have truly rejected the calling of the Holy Spirit, and have actually blasphemed his conviction. There remains no more hope for them, and they place themselves back under God’s wrath (John 3:36). This is why the angel smites Peter in Acts 12 and it wakes him from his sleep. The angel then smites King Herod in verse 23 and it kills him. When God smites the believer it wakes them up to who they are in Christ, but when he smites the sinner, it is His final judgment on their soul.
Do not have a fearful expectation of fiery judgment from your heavenly Father. You are the righteousness of God in Christ, and your Daddy is looking out for your good. When you fail He is not waiting with lightning bolts to smite you down, but rather He is waiting with a nail scarred hand to pick you up.
When the Lord began to reveal to me the revelation of His abundant grace and goodness, it was a marvelous journey. It was akin to being saved all over again, as I saw just how much that the finished work of Christ had truly been finished. I was thrilled to learn new things about His forgiveness and His mercy as I searched the scriptures afresh. In His grace, life is truly abundant.
One passage that troubled me as I grew in this knowledge is found in the fifth chapter of Acts and it concerns the deaths of Ananias and his wife Sapphira. This story is an obvious case of God killing someone post-Calvary and it seemed very reminiscent of God’s dealings with Israel in the Old Testament. It seemed as if every day God was opening up His covenant to me showing me that He is no longer mad at mankind and that He had been appeased by the death of His Son on the cross, so why was He so obviously killing two of His children in Acts 5?
After much prayer and study, and several journeys into every commentary that I owned, I had nearly concluded that I would not find the answer. Nearly every commentator mentioned God’s wrath against sin and how some sins were so grievous that God would kill you on the spot if you committed them. Others taught that this story is a warning to the church that there is only so far that you should push God before people begin to die as part of His swift hand of judgment. I could not in good conscience accept these answers and still see God as having been propitiated at Calvary. Propitiation is “satisfaction”, and if God was satisfied, how could He punish a believer for failure?
The answer is found in the question that Peter asks Ananias, after Ananias lies to Peter concerning the price of the land that he has sold. “Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?” is a question that reveals who Ananias is. No believer can be filled with the Spirit of God and with Satan, for there is no room in the heart for two masters (Matthew 6:24). If Satan had filled their hearts then we know that Jesus did not live there.
The author of the book felt the same way apparently, as he refers to Ananias as “a certain man” in verse 1. Only non-believers were referred to in this generic way in the book of Acts (Acts 10:1; 16:16) with believers being “certain disciples” (Acts 9:36), or “certain prophets and teachers” (Acts 13:1).
When a sinner rejects Christ long enough, there is nothing left for them but certain death. Having said “no” to Jesus, they have truly rejected the calling of the Holy Spirit, and have actually blasphemed his conviction. There remains no more hope for them, and they place themselves back under God’s wrath (John 3:36). This is why the angel smites Peter in Acts 12 and it wakes him from his sleep. The angel then smites King Herod in verse 23 and it kills him. When God smites the believer it wakes them up to who they are in Christ, but when he smites the sinner, it is His final judgment on their soul.
Do not have a fearful expectation of fiery judgment from your heavenly Father. You are the righteousness of God in Christ, and your Daddy is looking out for your good. When you fail He is not waiting with lightning bolts to smite you down, but rather He is waiting with a nail scarred hand to pick you up.
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