As mentioned previously, the first church in Acts had members who willingly and sacrificially sold their possessions so as to support others in the church even though no one was mandated to do so. Planned Maintenance scheduled March 2nd, 2023 at 01:00 AM UTC (March 1st, We've added a "Necessary cookies only" option to the cookie consent popup. The people in the early church who sold their possessions and gave the money to the church probably received the enthusiastic appreciation of the entire congregation. Jude also calls these kinds of people waterless clouds, swept along by the winds. to be assuming God killed them - (punished them?). Had God permitted Ananias and Sapphira to continue their charade, it would have destroyed the witness of the early church. 10. Paul tells the Corinthians that because of their behaviour : For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 1. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. If he thinks he is coming out on the short end, he quarrels and complains until he gets what he thinks he deserves. (James 1:19) Ananias and Sapphira were members of the early Church in Jerusalem in a period when "the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47). The Story of Ananias and Sapphira. In Peter's words, Ananias and Sapphira agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord (v9), which appears to be a terrible sin in the eyes of God, so terrible that it even warranted having the couple killed on the spot, without even being given the chance to confess and repent. What are the risks of husbands and wives being transparent with each other? But God's power was mightier than all the forces of hell, so their sin found them out. See again my book, Set Free!, pp. We don't know how old they were, or what their general health condition was like. Were Ananias and Sapphira Christians? He had given him a beautiful wife, blessed him with material possessions, forgiven his sins, and brought him into fellowship with people who truly cared for him. Evidently, Ananias and Sapphira had sold a piece of property for a certain sum and agreed between them to say they had sold it for a lesser sum while keeping the difference for their own use. Lukethe Spirit-inspired historian who wrote the Book of Actstells us in Acts 5:1; But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession (Acts 5:1). Ananias and Sapphira saw it and longed for it, and that is where their trouble began. This is compulsory morality Luke, the author of the book of Acts thus presents Peter and his first church rather critically. Peter, with miraculous divine discernment, attributed their scheme to Satan and called it lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3). This is the level on which he thinks his thoughts, senses his feelings, and makes his choices. They wanted more than acceptance; they wanted acclaim. They finally came up with a solution. After hearing these words from Peter, Ananias falls down and dies. And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last (Acts 5:5). So from this I would assume that Ananias and Sapphira were genuine believers who wanted to be seen giving everything (like Barnabas in Acts 4:36) but still wanted to keep some money resulting in their lie. Ive never disciplined any of my kids by killing them! Even though the Bible says they believed it is clear that they did not understand justification by faith and therefore could not have been saved. Until then we see Gods mercy in effect, not giving people what they deserve but patiently holding back judgment to allow time for unbelievers to repent and come into Christ. And presto, they would have instant acclaim as spiritual, self-sacrificing believers who had surrendered everything to Jesus Christ. Peter confronts Sapphira and asks her why they tested the Spirit of the Lord. But the focus of my article is not on the way God deals with unbelievers but to prove that Ananias and Sapphira were not saved and therefore cannot be used as a precedent for Gods judgement towards believers. Luke, in Acts 2:37-47, presents the first church as a utopia devoted to the love of God and each other, so much so that members began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. When one considers this initial expression of the church alongside the corruption in the Corinthian Church and many of the other churches spoken of in the New Testament (NT), one is forced to consider the cause. Acts 5:1-11. How do I know that I truly trust Jesus for salvation. 7. Our familiarity with religiously sanctioned violence makes it difficult to laugh, even if we understand that this scene may not be offered as serious, definitive theology. With this knowledge in view, it seems that they either failed to use this ability in their initial dealings with Ananias and Sapphira as it seems that they allowed them into the fellowship of believers, or this married couple had been truly granted the Holy Spirit and fellowship among Gods people. In the fourth chapter of Acts, the apostles were praying for more boldness and miracles. Their sin wasnt that they didnt give everything. The entire fledgling congregation was fully devoted to sharing all they had. I think Peter was not naive and knew what was going on. belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. There was no trace of fleshly pride in it whatsoever. So, we are not told about whether they were unsaved deceivers or believers who conspired to deceive. Why did God approve of animal-based diets if Adam and Eve were originally vegan? Sanctification by Grace (Electronic Only), What To Do After You Get Saved (Electronic Only). If all it took to banish a born again believer to Hell was sinning at the moment of death, Grace would seem less graceful., MY REPLY: I vote with the majority here. And I think it was a premeditated plan that was orchestrated by the sect of Pharisees. But most of them were selling their material possessions and giving the money to the apostles to be distributed to those who, in all probability, had lost their jobs because of their faith. But Scripture goes on to say that they were of one soul as well, and that is something entirely different. Here, Sapphira followed her husband's lead in giving the rehearsed account to the apostles (Acts 5:2, Acts 5:8-9). And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, Who were the rest that didnt dare join the Church? We understand hypocrisy to be a deliberate and calculated effort to deceive, as it was with Ananias and Sapphira, and we may not be consciously doing that. If Ananias and Sapphira were new Christians/immature Christians then we might have asked why they did Not have a chance to repent( i.e., some kind of gracious period of time to repent). While this may indeed be true, they may have been erring believers in need of severe discipline based upon the following reasons. But the Spirit of God can use an honest openness, on the other hand, to produce in us the life of Christ, and that means abundant life, abiding joy, and abounding blessing. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Which is really more important to usto maintain the appearance of spirituality, or genuinely to be what God wants us to be? The church is not composed of perfect people, but sins including pride and deceit will eventually be dealt with. As told at the beginning of Acts chapter 5 Ananias and Sapphira, following Barnabas' example, also sold their land but secretly withheld a portion of the proceeds. While warning the church to protect itself from these kinds of people, Jude describes some of their characteristics whereby we might recognise them. Is Salvation only in the Mass? Acts 5:4 indicates that they could have sold the land and offered a portion of the proceeds to the apostles, and not present it as the full amount; which was the sin of lying. All very exciting and interesting. the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. From the very outset, He wanted it known how strongly He feels about hypocrisy, and He wanted it known for all time. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. Thats why its not God sending the Tsunamis and storms and earthquakes. Gods family is much broader than any single family unit, and we soon learn that our relationship to this larger spiritual family affects our relationship with each other as husbands and wives. What if our works aren't enough? People who you'll probably never meet, this side of heaven. So who then could this group of the rest be that didnt dare join? 303ff. How could they get the congratulations they craved from the congregation without laying everything on the altar of sacrifice? By committing this sinful deception in their relationship with believers, they by extension deceived the Holy Spirit. A) Why were Ananias and Sapphira [of Acts 5:1-11] not given a second chance? But we dont see individual believers being threatened with judgment. This is usually understood as implying that every sin separates us from grace and puts us into a state of lostness; we stay in that lost state until we repent and confess that specific sin and pray for its forgiveness. 2:19). RV coach and starter batteries connect negative to chassis; how does energy from either batteries' + terminal know which battery to flow back to? Who were the rest that didnt dare join the Church? This question is important because it impacts our understanding of the New Covenant. Bc there were 12 tribes. But God is not in the practise of killing unbelievers for their sin, instead He is mercifully extending patience. Have you ever wondered what kind of relationship Ananias and Sapphira had with each other? Is 'The Heaven Test' presumptuous and judgmental? I think so but I don't really know. A man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold a piece of land kept some of it for themselves and then the husband, brought the rest as an offering to the Church. However they lied and said they had donated all the proceeds. "Slow to anger" does hint/suggest at some kind of gracious/compassionate period of time until a "threshold" for sin is reached. Lets commit ourselves to absolute straightforwardness and transparency. (Luke 16:19-31, Luke 18:18-30). Sins against the Holy Spirit are extremely grievous. This would mean that the Gospel isnt as good as we thought it was and that God violates the law of double jeopardy where He punishes the same sin twice. It is possible to fall from grace, but this is a drastic step and should not be equated with individual sins. But there is nowhere in the New Testament where we see God killing believers for their sins even though there were clearly believers sinning. They sent Ananias and Sapphira to infiltrate the Church but when they saw what happened to them, none of the rest of them dared join the Church for fear of the same fate. And Peter declared that she would experience the same fate which Ananias had suffered. Depression, fear, insecurity, condemnation, low self esteem, insignificance, and powerless tendencies all attack the child of God that does not have the revelation of salvation by grace through faith in the completed work of the cross of Calvary that Jesus has accomplished. The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in This, like Ananias and Sapphira, are examples in scripture of a 'sin leading to death' as mentioned in 1 John 5:16. 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