Observation
Setting. Jerusalem, soon after Pentecost. The believers share their goods and lay the money at the apostles’ feet (4:32–37); Barnabas has just sold a field. Ananias and Sapphira sell property and keep back part of the price (vv1–2). Later the apostles meet in Solomon’s portico in the temple (v12), are jailed by the high priest and the Sadducees (vv17–18), are freed by an angel (v19), and stand before the Council, the Sanhedrin (vv21, 27).
Structure:
- vv1–11 — the lie: Ananias and Sapphira keep back some of the price (vv1–2); “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?” (v3); “You have not lied to men but to God” (v4); Ananias dies — great fear (vv5–6); three hours later Sapphira repeats the lie and dies (vv7–10); great fear on the whole church (v11).
- vv12–16 — the signs: many signs and wonders; all with one accord in Solomon’s portico (v12); outsiders keep their distance but hold them in high esteem (v13); multitudes added (v14); the sick laid in the streets for Peter’s shadow; all healed (vv15–16).
- vv17–26 — the prison: the high priest and the Sadducees, filled with jealousy, jail the apostles (vv17–18); an angel opens the gates — “Go, stand and speak” (vv19–20); they teach at daybreak (v21); the officers find the prison locked, the guards at the doors, and no one inside (vv22–24); “The men … are standing in the temple” (v25); brought back without violence (v26).
- vv27–32 — the Council: “We gave you strict orders” (v28); “We must obey God rather than men” (v29); God raised Jesus, exalted Him as Prince and Savior, to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness (vv30–31); we are witnesses, and so is the Holy Spirit (v32).
- vv33–42 — the counsel: cut to the quick, they intend to kill them (v33); Gamaliel: Theudas, Judas of Galilee — “if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them” (vv34–39); flogged and released (v40); rejoicing to suffer shame for His name (v41); every day, temple and house to house, preaching Jesus as the Christ (v42).
Repeated words, with counts:
- “men” ×12 — vv4, 6, 10, 14, 25, 29, 34, 35 (×2), 36, 38 (×2).
- “people” ×9 — vv12, 13, 16 (×2), 20, 25, 26, 34, 37.
- “God” ×7 — vv4, 29, 30, 31, 32, 39 (×2).
- “price / land / property” ×7 — vv1, 2, 3 (×2), 8 (×3).
- “death / dead / breathed his (her) last / killed / perished” ×7 — vv5, 10 (×2), 30, 33, 36, 37.
- “prison / jail / prison house” ×6 — vv18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25.
- “teach / teaching / teacher” ×6 — vv21, 25, 28 (×2), 34, 42.
- “hear / heard / hearing” ×6 — vv5 (×2), 11, 21, 24, 33.
- “temple” ×5 — vv20, 21, 24, 25, 42; “apostles” ×5 — vv2, 12, 18, 29, 40.
- “found / find” ×5 — vv10, 22, 23 (×2), 39; “stand / standing / stood” ×5 — vv20, 23, 25, 27, 34.
- “Council” ×4 — vv21, 27, 34, 41.
- “fear / afraid” ×3 — vv5, 11, 26 (“great fear” ×2 — vv5, 11).
- “filled” ×3 — vv3, 17, 28; “rose up” ×3 — vv17, 36, 37.
- “Spirit” ×3 — vv3, 9, 32; “name” ×3 — vv28, 40, 41; “feet” ×3 — vv2, 9, 10; “buried” ×3 — vv6, 9, 10.
- “obey” ×2 — vv29, 32; “lie / lied” ×2 — vv3, 4; “overthrow(n)” ×2 — vv38, 39.
Contrasts: Barnabas’s gift ⟷ Ananias’s gift (4:36–37; 5:1–2). Your own ⟷ lied to God (v4). Men ⟷ God (vv4, 29). None dared associate ⟷ multitudes added (vv13–14). A locked, guarded prison ⟷ no one inside (v23). “Strict orders” ⟷ “we must obey God” (vv28–29). You put Him to death ⟷ God raised Him up and exalted Him (vv30–31). Of men, overthrown ⟷ of God, unstoppable (vv38–39). Flogged and shamed ⟷ rejoicing and worthy (vv40–41).
Shape of the chapter: two attacks and two outcomes. A lie from inside is judged (1–11) and the church grows (12–16); a fist from outside closes in (17–40) and the apostles leave rejoicing and keep preaching (41–42). Peter’s short sermon (29–32) sits at the center.
Chapter theme (my words): God guards His church with holiness inside and power outside. The Spirit cannot be lied to, the prison cannot hold the word, and the Council cannot overthrow what is of God — so the church fears Him, obeys Him rather than men, and counts it joy to suffer for His name.
Interpretation
What exactly was the sin of Ananias and Sapphira? Not keeping money — Peter says the land and the price were under their control (v4). The sin was the pretense: passing off part as the whole to gain a reputation like Barnabas’s. Sproul calls it a conspiracy and says they lied “not only to the Apostles and the church but … to the Holy Spirit.” Guzik: “Pride corrupts the church more quickly than anything else.” Henry: “Satan filled his heart.”
Why such a severe judgment? Guzik with Bruce compares Achan (Joshua 7): at the threshold of a new work, God shows His holiness. Luke’s verb “kept back” (nosphizomai) is the Greek Old Testament’s verb for Achan’s theft. Guzik adds that the greater wonder is how often God delays judgment. And Peter pronounced no sentence — “Peter did not pronounce a death sentence on Ananias” (Guzik); God acted.
Were they saved? Our teachers will not say. Guzik: “It is impossible to say for certain, for only God knows,” and he cites the “sin leading to death” (1 John 5:16) and Boice: “True Christians do not lose their salvation by sinning.” Henry treats the deaths as a warning to all who profess more than they possess. I leave their souls with God and take the warning for mine.
Is the Holy Spirit God? Verses 3 and 4 settle it: lie to the Holy Spirit = lie to God. He is a Person who can be lied to (v3) and put to the test (v9).
What about Peter’s shadow? Luke reports what the people hoped (v15), not that the shadow healed. Guzik: “there was no power in Peter’s shadow itself”; the healing in v16 was the Lord’s. Henry: “Peter comes between them and the sun, and so heals them” — but he gives God the credit.
When may a believer disobey authority? The same word “obey” (peitharcheō) commands obedience to rulers in Titus 3:1. Guzik: “submission on the human level is never absolute.” Sproul reads v29 less as civil disobedience than as bold preaching of Christ. The line is narrow: when men forbid what God commands — here, preaching Jesus — we obey God and take the consequences, as the apostles took the lash without resisting.
“A Prince and a Savior … to grant repentance to Israel” (v31). Christ rules and rescues (archēgos, sōtēr). Repentance is His gift (Spurgeon: “the Saviour can give thee this by his Spirit”), offered first to the nation that crucified Him. I believe that offer to Israel stands, and that “all Israel will be saved” when the Deliverer comes from Zion (Rom 11:26).
Was Gamaliel right? Here our teachers differ. Henry praises the counsel. Sproul: “That was good advice but not perfect advice” — what is of God cannot be overthrown, but “It is not true that if something is not of God, it fails.” Guzik calls it fence-sitting: “Success is not the ultimate measure of truth.” The evidence was already before them; neutrality toward Christ is not safe ground.
Why rejoice after a flogging? Because shame for His name is an honor (v41). Henry: “Reproach for Christ is true preferment.” Sproul: “The only glory we have is the glory of the cross.” Jesus had said it first (Matt 5:11–12).
Word study (Greek):
- kept back — nosphizomai (G3557): embezzle, pilfer; Acts 5:2, 3; Titus 2:10; LXX Joshua 7:1 (Achan).
- lie — pseudomai (G5574): to the Holy Spirit (v3) = to God (v4).
- fear — phobos (G5401): “great fear” vv5, 11.
- church — ekklēsia (G1577): first named in Acts at 5:11.
- shadow — skia (G4639): the people’s hope, not the power (v15).
- jealousy — zēlos (G2205): “filled with jealousy” (v17).
- obey — peitharcheō (G3980): Acts 5:29, 32; 27:21; Titus 3:1.
- Prince — archēgos (G747): pioneer, founder; Acts 3:15; 5:31; Heb 2:10; 12:2.
- Savior — sōtēr (G4990): He rescues as He rules.
- cross — xylon (G3586): “tree”; Deut 21:22–23; Gal 3:13.
- repentance — metanoia (G3341): a change of mind, given by the exalted Christ.
- cut to the quick — diapriō (G1282): sawn through; 5:33; 7:54.
- fighting against God — theomachos (G2314): only here.
Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):
- The first named church learns God is holy — ekklēsia and “great fear” (v11).
- The sin was the pretense, not the price (v4).
- Achan’s verb — nosphizomai (Josh 7:1).
- Lying to the Spirit is lying to God (vv3–4).
- Pride corrupts fastest (Guzik).
- Every heart is full of something — vv3, 17, 28.
- The genuine exposes the counterfeit (Sproul).
- Obedience to men is real but not absolute (peitharcheō).
- No Saviour without the Prince (Henry; Spurgeon).
- Joy under the lash — counted worthy (v41).
Cross-references: Lev 10:1–3; Josh 7:1–26; Deut 21:22–23; Ps 2:1–3; Matt 5:11–12; Luke 12:1–2; John 10:23; Acts 2:37; 3:11, 15; 4:18–20, 32–37; 7:54; 22:3; 23:8; 26:14; Rom 11:26; 13:1; 1 Cor 11:31–32; Gal 3:13; Eph 4:25, 30; Phil 2:9–10; Titus 2:10; 3:1; Heb 2:10; 12:2, 28–29; 1 Pet 4:14; 1 John 5:16.
Application
Sin to confess — wanting the image without the reality. Ananias wanted Barnabas’s reputation. I know that pull: to look like the man who has it together, to tell my story in group a little better than it was, to let people think I gave or prayed or stayed clean more than I did. Guzik is right: “It is too easy to be happy with the image of spirituality without the reality.” I name that before God this week, because it is Him I would be lying to (v4).
Truth to face — God is holy, and He is near. “Great fear came over the whole church” (v11). I don’t want a God I can manage. The fear of the Lord is not terror of a God who hates me; it is the awe of a man who knows who is in the room. That fear is what made the church safe, and strangely, attractive (v14).
Command to obey — obey God rather than men. Most days obeying God and obeying my boss, my parole officer or the law are the same thing, and I should be the most respectful man in the room (Titus 3:1). But when men tell me to be silent about Jesus or to do what God forbids, my answer is Peter’s. I will settle that now so I don’t have to decide it under pressure.
Promise to trust — a Prince and a Savior who gives repentance. I can’t produce repentance by trying harder. Jesus is exalted to give it (v31). Spurgeon: “the Saviour can give thee this by his Spirit.” So I ask Him for it, and I take Him as Prince too — not just the One who rescues me, but the One who runs my life.
Example to follow — rejoicing under the lash. The apostles went home bleeding and rejoicing, and they were back the next morning (vv41–42). For the men I serve, the shame might be a cellmate’s mockery or a family that doesn’t believe they’ve changed. That shame, carried for Jesus’ name, is an honor. Keep teaching. Keep preaching. Every day.
Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):
- Ananias wanted the reputation Barnabas had without paying what Barnabas paid. Where am I tempted to look more spiritual than I am? (5:1–4; 4:36–37) It is too easy to be happy with the image of spirituality without the reality (Guzik).
- Peter says the land was Ananias’s to keep (v4). Why is a lie about a good deed so serious to God — and what lie of mine needs to come into the light? (5:3–4; Luke 12:1–2) You have not lied to men but to God.
- “Great fear” came on the church (vv5, 11), and yet the church grew (v14). How can the fear of God make a church more attractive instead of less? (5:11–14; Heb 12:28–29) A pure church is a powerful church.
- Where in my life — work, family, the yard, the unit — does obeying God put me against what men expect of me? How do I tell real conflict from mere stubbornness? (5:29; Titus 3:1; Rom 13:1) Submission on the human level is never absolute (Guzik).
- Jesus is “a Prince and a Savior” (v31). Do I want Him as Savior but resist Him as Prince? Where? (5:30–32; Phil 2:9–10) No having Christ as Saviour unless we take Him for our Prince (Henry).
- The apostles went home bleeding and rejoicing (v41) and were back at it the next day (v42). What shame for Christ have I been avoiding, and what would “every day” faithfulness look like for me? (5:40–42; Matt 5:11–12) Reproach for Christ is true preferment (Henry).
Worship. The Holy Spirit is God, and He sees the heart. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom men hanged on a tree, and exalted Him to His right hand as Prince and Savior. Locked doors are nothing to Him. No council can overthrow His work. He gives repentance and forgiveness, and He counts flogged men worthy to suffer for His name.
Prayer. Holy Spirit, You know everything I have kept back. Forgive me for wanting to look better than I am, and make me honest all the way down. Lord Jesus, You are my Prince and my Savior; give me repentance, and rule what You have rescued. When men tell me to be quiet about You, give me Peter’s answer, and give me the apostles’ joy if it costs me. Keep me teaching and telling about You every day. Amen.