There are some sins that everyone, Christian or not, take seriously, such as murder or adultery. There are other sins that only Christians seem to care about, such as bitterness, lust, or taking the Lord’s name in vain. Then there are sins that even Christians often fail to take seriously—like gossip, self-reliance, white lies, and greed. But all of these are sin because they all go against God’s will and His commands, and God takes all sin seriously. When we don’t take sin seriously, we are actually failing to take God’s holiness seriously. The story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 saliently teaches us this truth.
Why Did God Strike Down Ananias and Sapphira?
Acts 5:1–11 tells us the chilling story of Ananias and Sapphira—two people who failed to take their own sin and God’s holiness seriously. This story takes place as the early church is being formed. The gospel of Jesus Christ is spreading, and thousands of people are being baptized into the family of God. And this early church community really is behaving like a family. They are spending all their time together, eating meals together, and even selling their possessions in order to care for each other.
Acts 4:36–37 provides important context for Ananias and Sapphira’s story. These two verses tell us about Barnabas, a man who sold a field and gave the money to the apostles. Immediately after we read of his generosity, we are told about how Ananias and Sapphira also sold some land, but instead of giving all of the proceeds to the apostles, they kept some for themselves and lied about it. The Apostle Peter confronts each of them individually about their lie, and after hearing his rebuke, they each fall dead.
Ananias and Sapphira are guilty of many sins with this action, including hypocrisy, greed, deceit, and pride. In giving the money, they acted as if they were being generous like Barnabas, but in reality they were being greedy and keeping some of the money for themselves. They wanted to appear generous and honorable, but beneath the surface, they were being deceitful. Peter tells them that the money was theirs—they could have kept it all for themselves if that is what they wanted, but they chose to lie so that they could appear righteous before man (Acts 5:4).
In making this decision, they were lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3). They either believed God wouldn’t notice or that He wouldn’t care, and both of these assumptions fail to account for God’s holiness and the seriousness of sin. And because God is holy and He does take sin seriously, this decision costs them their lives.
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God Is Holy in Both the Old and the New Testaments
The story of Ananias and Sapphira echoes many events from the Old Testament. It is reminiscent of the ten plagues in Exodus, which concluded with the tenth plague during which God struck down all the firstborns in Egypt (Exodus 12:29). We might remember the story in Leviticus in which Aaron’s sons offered unauthorized fire before the Lord and fell down dead (Leviticus 10:1–2) or the time in Joshua when Achan the Israelite took forbidden plunder from a battle for himself and hid it—he, too, received the consequence of death (Joshua 7:20–26). Through these stories, we learn that God takes sin seriously because He is holy—He is so pure and good that sin cannot enter His presence. And this aspect of God’s character does not disappear between the Old and New Testaments.
The story of Ananias and Sapphira reminds us that the God of the New Testament is the same God that sent the plagues to Egypt and requires sacrifices for His people to be near His presence. He did not soften regarding sin. Sin did and still does require death (Romans 6:23). It would either require the death of every sinner or the death of His pure and sinless Son. Our sin made it costly for God to have a relationship with us, but He was willing to pay the price. He sent Jesus to take our sins upon Himself so that we could be made righteous. That is how seriously He takes sin.
Walking in the Grace and Fear of God
The fate of Ananias and Sapphira ought to inspire a healthy fear of God in us—as it did for the members of the early church who witnessed it (Acts 5:11). We must see sin as the serious and harmful thing that it is and God as the pure and holy God that He is. Only then can we truly appreciate the grace that has been offered us through Christ. And through this recognition, we are led to repent—turn from our sin—and place our trust in Christ. Jesus came not only to forgive us of sin but to remove it from our lives. And through this grace, He offers us an escape from the fate of death that would have awaited us without Christ’s death and resurrection.
As we persist in our faith, God will continuously reveal more of our sin to us. Our task is to take all this sin seriously—to repent of it and walk alongside the Holy Spirit as He conforms us into the image of Christ. In doing this, we recognize that God is a holy God and that He has graciously made a way for us as sinners to be in His presence and live.
Author Bio
Beth White is a Staff Writer for The Daily Grace Co. She is passionate about studying and teaching God’s Word. When she is not writing about the Bible, you can find her reading classics, drinking coffee with friends, or spending time with her family.
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