Dangerous holiness-Acts 5

Acts, New Testament, Sermons

Lying to God (Ac 5:3, 5, 8-9). In contrast to the church’s positive communal life, this 2nd example is negative in character; it was a disaster. Ananias means “God is gracious,” and Sapphira means “beautiful.” They are sadly the polar opposite of their names. What does the story of the deceit and death of this married couple teach?

  1. The honesty of Luke, who did not suppress or hide this sordid episode. Would your church share this in a news bulletin or on your church website or in the story of your church?
  2. This Spirit filled church was not all great works of God and not all romance and righteousness.
  3. The strategy of Satan. It is similar to Achan who stole money and clothing after the destruction of Jericho. The sin of Archan and of Ananias were similar in that it happened at the beginning of the churches of the OT and NT. The story of Ananias is to the book of Acts what the story of Achan is to the book of Joshua. In both narratives an act of deceit interrupts the victorious progress of the people of God.

Dangerous holiness. Regarding God’s swift and sudden judgment [whether we like it or not which many of course don’t], Luke is telling us that the early Christian church was like the Temple, a place of holiness, a holiness so dramatic and acute that every blemish was magnified. To the earliest Christians, to name the name of Jesus, and to invoke the Holy Spirit, is to claim to be the Temple of the living God, the God who is “holy, holy, holy” (Isa 6:3). The Temple itself contained warnings against anyone approaching who was unfit to do so.

  • Gentiles were kept well out of it (Ac 21:28-29);
  • Jewish women could only go in as far as a certain point;
  • only the priests could go into the inner court;
  • and only the high priest himself could go into the “holy of holies,” the most holy place, the central shrine, and then only once a year, taking all kinds of precautions.

Holiness is not an optional extra but required by all of God’s people (Lev 11:44; 19:2; 20:7; 1 Pet 1:16; 1 Th 4:7). Thus, the consequences of violating it are very severe, even fatal: the death 2 of Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu (Lev 10:1-3); Achan’s sin (Jos 7:1, 11-12, 19-26); Uzzah struck dead (2 Sam 6:6-7); King Uzziah struck with leprosy for infringing the sanctuary (2 Chron 26:16-21).   Peter, acting as a prophet, asks 6 questions:

  1. “How is it that Satan has so filled your heart?” (Ac 5:3a)
  2. Why have you “lied to the Holy Spirit?” (Ac 5:3b)
  3. Why did you “keep for yourselves some of the money?” (Ac 5:3c)
  4. “Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold?” (Ac 5:4a)
  5. “Wasn’t the money at your disposal?” (Ac 5:4b)
  6. “What made you think of doing such a thing?” (Ac 5:4c) [Literally: “What got into your heart?”]

References:

  1. Wright, N.T. Acts for Everyone, Part 1. Chapters 1-12. 2008.
  2. Witherington III, Ben. The Acts of the Apostles. A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. 1998.
  3. Stott, John. The Message of Acts. 1990. Through the Bible through the year, Daily reflections from Genesis to Revelation. 2006.
  4. Peterson, David G. The Acts of the Apostles. The Pillar NT commentary. 2009.
  5. Osborne, Grant. Acts. Verse by Verse. 2019.
  6. Marshall, I. Howard. Acts. Tyndale NT commentaries (TNTC). 1980.
  7. Barclay, William. The Acts of the Apostles. The Daily Study Bible Series. 1976.
  8. Fernando, Ajith. The Message of Jesus in Action. 2010.
Number of Views: 85