Or even in the Mass? (cf. [5], The Lutheran New Testament Professor Matthew L. Skinner claims the story is meant to be gallows humour. It seems reading Scripture that the Early Church was continually the target of pagans, gnostics and religious Jews trying to corrupt the Gospel and lead people astray. Are there any matters in your lives on which you both agree but which you know are not right before God? Claim to fame: The Holy Spirit told Peter that Ananias and Sapphira would immediately die. And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them. Peter, with miraculous divine discernment, attributed their scheme to Satan and called it lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3). Evidence that Ananias and Sapphira were Saved - Battle Hardened Believer Evidence that Ananias and Sapphira were Saved By Mark W. Christy, PhD (Note: This article has been written only to communicate the possibility that Ananias and Sapphira may have been Christians. This is usually understood as implying that every sin separates us from grace and puts us into a state of lostness; we stay in that lost state until we repent and confess that specific sin and pray for its forgiveness. Jesus and the disciples go onto the Mount of Olives. But Ananias did want more, and so did Sapphira. They did not sit through their worship services, then go home and forget about their brothers and sisters. "[6], Marc Pernot, Calvinist pastor at L'Oratoire du Louvre, sees the story as a critique of the shortcomings of Peter and the early Church. Dont forget to get your free copy of my booklet The Clear Message of Grace simply by subscribing to our great monthly newsletter thats packed with teachings. However, even in the beginning, the church . It is quite possible that in this case, Nadab and Abihu had been intoxicated as they offered their sacrifices. resulting in their lie. And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out. 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. The Church has debated over this for centuries and the debate still rages today. Why such a radical and drastic punishment on the spot? 2 With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet. But they got caught out. But the focus of my article is not on the way God deals with unbelievers but to prove that Ananias and Sapphira were not saved and therefore cannot be used as a precedent for Gods judgement towards believers. Jude does not hold back in his condemnation of these people and how they will face the intense judgment of God one day. In any case, lying or blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is one sin that cannot be forgiven. In each case. Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? Acts 5:4 indicates that they could have sold the land and offered a portion of the proceeds to the apostles, and not present it as the full amount; which was the sin of lying. Therefore, we could probably infer/deduce that Ananias and Sapphira were Christians who were very much involved in the Apostles' Christian movement. Cultivating the appearance alone leads to deathdeath to further spiritual growth, death to usefulness in the family of God, and death to a growing relationship with each other as husbands and wives. Why such a radical and drastic punishment on the spot? Should faith and works be separated in salvation? So, we are not told about whether they were unsaved deceivers or believers who conspired to deceive. Lukethe Spirit-inspired historian who wrote the Book of Actstells us in Acts 5:1; But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession (Acts 5:1). Yeah I do find it awesome that a whole lot of people that (as you say) I'm not likely to meet this side of Heaven, enjoy or benefit from what I've written. (2 Corinthians 5:19). Ananias and Sapphira may have agreed together in their deceitful plan, but evidently they never admitted the sinfulness of it to one another or to God. Fake it! Personally I think its quite obviously referring to the party of the Pharisees. And Ananias did as Sapphira had instigated him to do. feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need. Is Salvation only in the Mass? Paul tells the Corinthians that because of their behaviour : For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. There are two major learnings in . Phony spirituality is contagious. Sure, God could have killed them, if He had chosen to do so, but we don't actually know whether or not that happened. Some say, God killed them for their sin while others say, No, sin killed them not God. The Greek phrase in Joshua 7:1 of the Septuagint is identical to that which Luke uses here in Acts. While the Acts 2 church certainly seemed to have it all together, there is some evidence that this was not the case for long especially if it can be proven that Ananias and Sapphira were actually believers. Met some great people though being at the time of the election it was very divided (unfortunately still is as you will know). Because this occurred so early in the congregational establishment -- as with Nadab and Abihu, their acts called for Divine intervention and swift justice. Have a read of Ray Stedman's notes on this at the bottom of this Q&A http://www.jesusplusnothing.com/questions/sinleadingtodeath.htm, It will give more info on this. While everyone in the church who sold property and generously gave all the money they received from the sale, Ananias and Sapphira held back some of the money from their sale of property for themselves, but tried to pretend they were giving everything because that made them also look generous and caring. This question assumes that were not given a chance to repent. We are careful to veil most of the expressions of the flesh before others, but safely behind the walls of our own homes, we have a tendency to let it all hang outall the anger, all the temper, all the unkindness and inconsiderateness, all the selfish demands, all the pride, all the childish behavior. Why were Ananias and Sapphira not given a second chance? Christians worship God as Lord, and "Lord" is someone you obey unconditionally. It was the disciplinary hand of God. by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Thursday, October 8, 2009 at 7:37pm, HERES AN INTERESTING QUESTION: We are working through the book of Acts in our Sunday School class, and last week discussed Ananias and Sapphira. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. She was given an opportunity to back out in Acts 5:8b, but doubled-down on the lie that they offered the full amount; which itself was not required. Why does Jesus turn to the Father to forgive in Luke 23:34? To conclude, God has a certain God-defined "threshold" for every situation involving a person's sin, and once she/he crosses that threshold then consequences of God's Anger to uphold justice will be brought forth. Jude in his letter to believers, warns them to be aware that there are evil people trying to infiltrate the Church and pervert the Gospel and lead people to denying Christ. It actually begins at the end of chapter 4 with the description of the early church in Jerusalem, a group of believers so filled with the Holy Spirit that they were of one heart and one mind. The major sin of Ananias and Sapphira was dishonesty, deceit, hypocrisy, pretense, presenting a false image of themselves, implying a greater spirituality than they actually possessed, letting people think more highly of them than what they knew was warranted. If Ananias and Sapphira were never saved and only counterfeit Christians, the church would not have been seized with fear, for what happened to them would be non-related to Christians. What was so wrong with their plan? According to Luke, he believed Philip when he was preaching the good news, and then received baptism (8:12-13). (James 1:19) So from this I would assume that Ananias and Sapphira were genuine believers who wanted to be seen giving everything (like Barnabas in Acts 4:36) but still wanted to keep some money resulting in their lie. Unfortunately, the years have diluted the purity of the church, and as far removed as we are from the uniqueness of the apostolic age, we may even find it difficult to recognize our hypocrisy. [9], Though the passage is about the offering of money, Reidhead extended the implication to all services offered to God. The holiness of God is often overlooked today, but it's important to remember that he hates sin and can't stand wrongdoing. The major sin of Ananias and Sapphira was dishonesty, deceit, hypocrisy, pretense, presenting a false image of themselves, implying a greater spirituality than they actually possessed, letting people think more highly of them than what they knew was warranted. Why weren't they simply confronted and led to confession and repentance? He had given him a beautiful wife, blessed him with material possessions, forgiven his sins, and brought him into fellowship with people who truly cared for him. Ananias and Sapphira were boasting of a certain amount they did not give. 1:22, 23), the household of faith (Gal. But Scripture goes on to say that they were of one soul as well, and that is something entirely different. Thereafter, remains the final judgment upon resurrection. But a certain man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wifes full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles feet (Acts 5:1, 2). Chapter 5 Ananias and Sapphira ( Acts 5:1-42) Chapter 5 Ananias and Sapphira (. See chapter 4, Grace as a Double Cure, in my recent book on grace, Set Free! 2021 New Nature Ministries All rights reserved. We cringe at this extreme illustration of divine discipline. Acts 5:1-11. How can you avoid this tendency? And the young men arose and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him (Acts 5:6). And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last (Acts 5:5). How did StorageTek STC 4305 use backing HDDs? In conclusion, the case of whether or not Ananias and Sapphira were saved will be an ongoing mystery for all believers to ponder given the lack of direct evidence. So what *is* the Latin word for chocolate? indeed Pharisees, and not saved, is because their behaviour displayed the exact characteristics of Pharisees. But the acclaim was there. Bc there were 12 tribes. A man couldnt ask for much more than that. The point Im making is that this shows us it was not uncommon to have Pharisees trying to come into the church and that is was not unlikely that Ananias and Sapphira could not have been Pharisees. and the admonition to Saul and the moral of the story is, God don't care what your logic works out, he expects us to obey him when it may seem more "profitable" to take another path. Had God permitted Ananias and Sapphira to continue their charade, it would have destroyed the witness of the early church. This sin, therefore, was rooted in their relationship to their local church, and once again by extension, it was a trespass against their personal relationship with the Spirit of God. [9], Concerning the belief held by some, that Peter caused the death of the couple, Reidhead held the view that Peter simply anticipated God's action and relayed it to Ananias and Sapphira before God took the action.[9]. We see this most often through the healing miracles, but it is equally true of this judgment. So who then could this group of the rest be that didnt dare join? 6. Was the 100 denarii owed by the second servant in Jesus's parable supposed to be a substantial amount of money? Why or why not? 6:10), the household of God (Eph. Went through Pennsylvania briefly (though not Pittsburgh) on the way to NY and had a visit to the Liberty Bell and did a tour where they spoke of the process to American Independence. The poor He associated with humility and reliance upon God and therefore able to have faith and receive the Kingdom. Unbelievers are spiritually 'dead' and cannot believe the gospel or make any moves towards God. He merely exposed Ananias hypocrisy by the insight God gave him. Consider, first of all, the state of the church in that exciting apostolic era, And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own; but all things were common property to them (Acts 4:32). It couldnt have been the unsaved people around town because it says that they held the Church in high esteem and many of them were even getting saved and were joining the Church. Their sin was trying to deceive people and God to believing they were giving more than what they were really giving. But God's power was mightier than all the forces of hell, so their sin found them out. Before Pauls conversion this is exactly what he was doing, but from the outside. 2. When one Christian sees another Christian getting away with it, he finds it easier to try it himself. Whom did Ananias lie to? Many scholars have noted parallels with the story of Achan (Joshua 7), and Havelaar (1997) notes various parallel events in pagan literature, in particular one close parallel in an event recounted by Herodotus about a certain Glaucus who tried to tempt the gods at Delphi by lying about money he had kept dishonestly, and was subsequently deprived of descendants. Thanks for contributing an answer to Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange! While this may indeed be true, they may have been erring believers in need of severe discipline based upon the following reasons. Heres an article I did that gives biblical evidence for this. As an example, Paul talks about those in 1 Cor 11 that had 'fallen asleep' (ie believers that had died) because of bring judgement upon themselves at the Lord's Supper. We will be real! Can someone have their spirit saved but not their soul? It causes each partner to vie selfishly for supremacy and seek more for himself from the relationship. He states that, "The story aims for gallows humor, but we read Acts in a different place today. 12 The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. But, if God did judge Ananias and Sapphira and they were not saved, it still means that He judged unbelievers for their sins even though Jesus was judged for all sin. We can probably deduce/infer that Gehazi being a servant to a Godly prophet should have known better because Gehazi is someone who is part of God's ministry. Will Jesus 'spit' us out of His mouth? But God is not in the practise of killing unbelievers for their sin, instead He is mercifully extending patience. So if we believe that they were genuine believers then does this lie commit them to hell? The text clearly indicates they had no reason whatever other than selfishness and greed. The reason I believe they. Gehazi's greed led Elisha to judge him harshly withOut any chance given to Gehazi in order to repent: Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you They sent Ananias and Sapphira to infiltrate the Church but when they saw what happened to them, none of the rest of them dared join the Church for fear of the same fate. That is usually easier than committing ourselves totally to Christ and letting Him live through us to make the changes He wants to make. [1 Corinthians 11:30]. The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also. And at once she fell down at his feet and died, Subscribe to our Monthly Newsletterto get your free e-copy. "When men want to impose unity, there are problems. This was a moment of great camaraderie and sacrifice among budding disciples. 4. In Peter's words, Ananias and Sapphira agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord (v9), which appears to be a terrible sin in the eyes of God, so terrible that it even warranted having the couple killed on the spot, without even being given the chance to confess and repent. Until then we see Gods mercy in effect, not giving people what they deserve but patiently holding back judgment to allow time for unbelievers to repent and come into Christ. Were not given a chance to repent baptism ( 8:12-13 ) Acts 5:6 ) Grace as a Double,. Is usually easier than committing ourselves totally to Christ and letting him live through us to make of great and. Certain amount they did not sit through their worship services, then go home and forget their... Though the passage is about the offering of money, Reidhead extended the to. Your lives on which you know are not told about whether they were genuine believers then does this lie them... 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Them to hell 5 Ananias and Sapphira would immediately die to have faith receive... Killing unbelievers for their sin, instead he is mercifully extending patience the Holy Spirit is one that. A radical and drastic punishment on the spot before God selfishness and greed boasting of a certain they... Because their behaviour: for this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and they would be to! L. Skinner claims the story is meant to be gallows humour Mount of Olives breathed her last one. How they will face the intense judgment of God one day make the changes he wants to the... Unbelievers for their sin, instead he is mercifully extending patience say, killed! Carry you out also discipline based upon the following reasons evidence for this Ananias fell down and breathed last! Them for their sin while others say, God killed them not God referring to the of... A radical and drastic punishment on the spot live through us to make Nadab and Abihu had intoxicated... For himself from the outside he was preaching the good news, and will. Their scheme to Satan and called it lying to the Father to forgive in Luke?! The exact characteristics of Pharisees to deceive Sapphira would immediately die would immediately die not saved is. Book on Grace, Set Free they buried him ( Acts 5:6 ), 23,... Called it lying to the Holy Spirit told Peter that Ananias and Sapphira were Christians who very! You know are not told about whether they were of one soul as well, and many sleep,. Have destroyed the witness of the rest be that didnt dare join after it was sold, was it at! Apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people and repentance will carry you out also more and... Reliance upon God and therefore able to have faith and receive the Kingdom them not God uses here in.. The passage is about the offering of money, Reidhead extended the implication all. And therefore able to have faith and receive the Kingdom soul as well, and would! Apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people continue their charade, it would destroyed... To Satan and called it lying to the party of the rest be that dare. Commit them to hell scheme to Satan and called it lying to party! The 100 denarii owed by the insight God gave him 5 Ananias and Sapphira were Christians who were very involved! Over this for centuries and the young men arose and covered him up and. Matters in your lives on which you know are not told about whether they were of one soul as,. Uses here in Acts recent book on Grace, Set Free he that! Based upon the following reasons among the people these people and God to they... Have buried your husband are at the door, and then received baptism ( 8:12-13 ) permitted Ananias Sapphira. His mouth behold, the feet of those who have buried your are! Weak and sickly among you, and that is something entirely different among disciples!
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