Friday, February 13, 2026

Acts 5: sin & death in the church

Ananias and Sapphira saw the great generosity of Barnabas and how he was praised. They decided to copy Barnabas in order to be praised too.
I know that the Lord is good and worth to be praised; however, I can't understand how the Lord is good when Peter said to Sapphira soon after his hushand has died:

8 And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for [g]this price?” And she said, “Yes, for that price.” 9 Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.”

I think that if I were in Peter's place, I would tell her directly that his husband has died in order to prevent her from dying.
The Lord is good and worth to be praised, but He humbles those who want to be praised, even those who claim to belong to Jesus.
In a way, Ananias and Sapphira were worse than the young rich guy who asked Jesus how to get eternal life.

We read in Acts 5:29:

29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

Obey = πειθαρχεῖν / peitharchein
In bible.cc notation it is V-PNA :

  • V:** Verb
  • P:** Present (An ongoing, habitual lifestyle of obedience)
  • N:** Infinitive ("**To** obey")
  • A:** Active (We choose to do the obeying)


Peter states that he must obey the Lord instead men; and in a way, Ananias and Sapphira were focusing more on people than in the Lord. Disobedience and vainglory goes together.

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