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Ananias And Sapphira: A Bible Study
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Ananias And Sapphira: A Bible Study

Are We Lying To God?

As I was studying for this Sunday’s message, I was reading the passage about lying to God once again. The passage in Acts 5 where a husband and wife named Ananias and Sapphira collaborated together to lie to the apostles and others in the church, and ultimately end up lying to God.

Acts 5:1-11

But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”

Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him.

Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?”

She said, “Yes, for so much.”

Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. 11 So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.

I will be honest. This passage has always given me some trouble. I find it hard to accept the harshness of their punishment with a theology of grace.

Yet in my 32 years of being a believer, I have seen on 2 occasions where God was finished striving with an individual and called them home instantly.

Ananias and saphira lying to god

One incident was with a person who had a history of causing strife within any church he attended. He had been confronted on this issue many times yet continued to do it. His family and home life were in complete disarray with his wife and children suffering.

One day as the man was walking down the street, He just keeled over with a massive heart attack and died.

The other incident was with a woman who was keeping books for the church. One day while she was tending her roses, she also just keeled over with a heart attack. Later it was discovered that she had been putting entries into the church books of donations being given by her that were not given.

I am not saying that God killed these people.

However, both were incidents where they died unusually since they were not diagnosed with any heart disease, nor were they old by any means of the word. Both were in mid-life. This leads me to at least speculate that they were guilty of lying to God and that it had a tragic effect on their life.

Questions To Ask When Studying the Story Of Ananias and Sapphira

So as I look at the story of Ananias and Sapphira lying to God, I must question myself.

Am I Trying To Fool God?

Am I guilty of engaging in behavior or attitudes that would lead down the path of lying to God, or have I allowed myself to engage in the folly of trying to fool God? Seriously, If I actually think I can lie to God, I have to be deluded because He knows everything. Yet many times we still behave as if He didn’t.

Here are the areas that I found needed to be evaluated to make sure that I was not inadvertently or out of some type of ingrained habit, trying to fool God and in doing so end up lying to God.

  1. Am I trying to portray to God an outward appearance that I have it all together? In other words, am I trying to convince or show God that I am the next best thing to cotton candy? This is very tempting to do because in the world we live in, there is both a cultural ideology and a pattern of living that rewards the successful and punishes the weak. We are not allowed to show that we are not altogether because of the social and financial ramifications if we do. This gets transferred over to our relationship with God. We think that if we admit we are not all put together, that if we admit weakness, then somehow it will have a negative effect on how God views us and how He treats us. This in effect, leads us to lie to God. We end up concealing what we really are like and portraying a falsehood to Him. I have been guilty of this on more than one occasion in my life. It has never led to good things but has always led in some shape or form to destruction just as with Ananias and Sapphira.
  2. Am I hiding my true emotional state from God? Again, we live in a society that does not want to deal with certain types of emotions and rewards others. I grew up being told that men don’t cry. We have the temptation in the church not to be honest about how we are feeling and instead of putting on the mask that everything is fine and “I am blessed” because if you are not blessed, then something must be wrong with you. There is an overabundance of emphasis that is placed on being blessed and how everything is supposed to be good if you are a Christian, which is not biblically accurate. Am I being honest with God about how I am feeling? If I am struggling with a particular person or if I am discouraged in what I am doing, am I being honest with God about that, or am I trying to hide the fact because I am worried that He will condemn my feelings? David was called a man after God’s own heart, yet He always was honest with God about how he was feeling. Read the Psalms and you will find out that David was transparent with the Lord about how He was feeling. He did not try to lie, or hide from God what He was feeling.
  3. Am I being honest with God about the level of my spiritual maturity? Again, especially within the church culture, we try for some insane reason to prove to one another that we have obtained a higher level of spiritual maturity. It is as if we have a performance mentality within the church. We strive to master the Bible, or we strive to operate more in spiritual gifts, or we strive to serve in every area of the church. Now, these things are not bad in and of themselves, but when we are doing it to prove something, then they become hindrances. God knows how mature we really are, and if we have allowed ourselves to take on the performance mentality, then we are tempted to hide our lack, and only show what we think we have achieved thus in essence, lie to God. Remember lying is not always overt. It is not always about what we blatantly say that is false, but it is the attempt to obscure or hide the truth. I have to ask myself the question, “Am I engaging in a behavior, or do I have an attitude, that hides or obscures the truth?”

Hope For The Transparent

Now if you are like me, after doing that level of introspection, you did not come away unscathed. I know that I didn’t.

Ananias and saphira featured image

However, the end result for me was not condemnation but hope. Because I know that once I get honest with God about where I am in life, and stop trying to hide things or downright lie to God, that the real issues, the real feelings, the real motives can be dealt with.

And with that comes true growth that is from the inside out. No longer am I heading down a path of destruction either personally or spiritually, but I am heading in the direction of life and life more abundantly.

So instead of following the path of Ananias and Sapphira, will you join me on a journey of being honest with God and letting go of the pretenses?

Pastor duke taber
Pastor Duke Taber

Pastor Duke Taber

All articles have been written or reviewed by Pastor Duke Taber.
Pastor Duke Taber is an alumnus of Life Pacific University and Multnomah Biblical Seminary.
He has been in pastoral ministry since 1988.
Today he is the owner and managing editor of 3 successful Christian websites that support missionaries around the world.
He is currently starting a brand new church in Mesquite NV called Mesquite Worship Center, a Non-Denominational Spirit Filled Christian church in Mesquite Nevada.