Can anyone tell me what is going on here? What exactly did they do wrong that warrants them being struck down dead? Last I checked, lying to someone is not a sin.
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Acts 5 - Ananias and Sapphira
- Thread starter alexiscurious
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Bumble Bee
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Their sin was in trying to deceive God. They were not required to sell their property and give it to the church, but they did. However, they said they were giving it all to God when they were holding back for themselves. It wasn't that they were lying to the apostles, but that they were lying to God.
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They could have also lied about their favorite food or the name of their pet goat. Still doesn't make much a difference.
What makes this a sin exactly?
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Bumble Bee
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The difference was that they were lying about their devotion to God. They were saying "here, God, we love you so much we are giving everything we have to you!" while secretly keeping for themselves. God knew what was in their hearts.
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Sketcher
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Lying to someone is a sin. The pride and the desecration of lying to the Holy Spirit is also a sin. And all sin, big or small, earns you death anyway.
Moreover, human rights come from God. People can't give them or take them away, people can either respect and protect them, or violate them. God however gives them and takes them away, as only he has the right to do so.
Moreover, human rights come from God. People can't give them or take them away, people can either respect and protect them, or violate them. God however gives them and takes them away, as only he has the right to do so.
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The same thing that makes anything a sin, God called it sin. Lying is, and has always been, sin~~~> What does the Bible say about lying? Is lying a sin?
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The passage doesn't say that God punished; but Peter convicted, and the couple physically responded to the conviction.
Even if we were to narrow the sin definition of lying to bearing false witness, that is essentially what they did. They publicly made a false claim.
The wages of sin are death, but God didn't punish people with death each time they sinned. A Christian sees death as the passage into the next life, so it is not punishment for the believer. If authentic, they would not have felt a punishment by collapsing on the spot.
But here, they made a mockery of the church's effort to share and give to each other sacrificially. There might have even been hints of trying to buy God's favor, or prominence in the church -- which warps the gospel. Sometimes it's better to nip a doctrinal trend in the bud, before it takes off... no competitions for who gave more.
5 And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last
That sounds like a heart attack, which is an internal response, often from anxiety and stress. Tension from covering the truth, anxiety about giving up so much, not really wanting to share-and-share-alike. It was a sign of greed and maybe even resentment for being put in this position.
When his wife came along three hours later and also collapsed, she had just been told her husband died. So that would be a shock as well. (Plus, you know how stressful it is to sell property-- they'd probably spent all week moving boxes.)
It put fear into the other believers, but there was no point where God said, "You will die for your sin." It was conviction that shook everyone up, that they wanted to record for others to learn from.
It's interesting that Peter said the same people would carry her out -- which he might have meant elders would walk her out of the church alive, like security guards would.
The word means "bring" and "lead out" as well as "burial." Indirect, sort of like the dual meaning of "take him out." But scholars and readers conclude that it meant imposed death.
Even if we were to narrow the sin definition of lying to bearing false witness, that is essentially what they did. They publicly made a false claim.
The wages of sin are death, but God didn't punish people with death each time they sinned. A Christian sees death as the passage into the next life, so it is not punishment for the believer. If authentic, they would not have felt a punishment by collapsing on the spot.
But here, they made a mockery of the church's effort to share and give to each other sacrificially. There might have even been hints of trying to buy God's favor, or prominence in the church -- which warps the gospel. Sometimes it's better to nip a doctrinal trend in the bud, before it takes off... no competitions for who gave more.
5 And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last
That sounds like a heart attack, which is an internal response, often from anxiety and stress. Tension from covering the truth, anxiety about giving up so much, not really wanting to share-and-share-alike. It was a sign of greed and maybe even resentment for being put in this position.
When his wife came along three hours later and also collapsed, she had just been told her husband died. So that would be a shock as well. (Plus, you know how stressful it is to sell property-- they'd probably spent all week moving boxes.)
It put fear into the other believers, but there was no point where God said, "You will die for your sin." It was conviction that shook everyone up, that they wanted to record for others to learn from.
It's interesting that Peter said the same people would carry her out -- which he might have meant elders would walk her out of the church alive, like security guards would.
The word means "bring" and "lead out" as well as "burial." Indirect, sort of like the dual meaning of "take him out." But scholars and readers conclude that it meant imposed death.
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Deceiving someone is a sin against them when you owe them the truth--which woiuld be the case both with a fellow congregation member and the Holy Spirit, both of whom Ananias and Saphira lied to.
One of the things we should see is that there was a connection of the Holy Spirit within that congregation that few, if any, congregations have had since then. There was immense spiritual power in that congregation.
Those people were, iin a manner of speaking, handling nitroglycerine. That moment was akin to the time the disciples witnessed Christ still the storm. They'd been hanging with Jesus for a while, seeing miracles, thinking He was just a holy man like Elijah. It was when Jesus stilled the storm by His own authority that the disciples suddenly realized they were in a presence that was far, far more than they had realized before.
This was something similar. Ananias and Saphira (and no doubt others) did not realize the immensity of Who they were dealing with.
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