Acts 5:3 "But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. 6 And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him."Ananias and his wife, Sapphira sold some land. Apparently, the intention was to make it all a gift to God as the others had done who had generously given everything to the service of the Lord. (Note that the disciples didn't tithe of what they sold, but gave it all!). Rather than giving it all, they kept back some of the proceeds for themselves. One at a time, Ananias and Sapphira lied about the amount and both were struck dead by the Holy Ghost.
First off, the Holy Ghost's purpose is "Comforter"!
John 14:26 "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."It's shocking to me as it was to the other disciples that the one who came to "comfort" would punish so harshly! The people were truly afraid as verse 11 indicates "And great fear came upon all the church..." You see from John that the Comforter had another purpose; "he shall teach you all things"! What was it that the disciples were taught? That truth is a trait of a true Christian! Those who saw this learned that you are never to lie to God! The passage above tells of the lie and punishment for Ananias, but not shown is the same penalty for Sapphira.
The Holy Ghost is God just as Jesus is God! When Jesus left in body, immediately he returned in spirit:
John 16:7b "...if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you..." and John 14:26b :Whom the Father will send in my name..."In effect Ananais and Sapphira lied to Jesus! They both gave up the "ghost" (Acts 5:5), meaning that the Holy Ghost snuffed out their life! We don't know if it was a sin of apostasy or not, but the punishment was their loss of physical life!
We think of God as the judge and executioner, but it's Jesus who not only loves us, but in the end, will judge and send us to our punishment! Why? Because Jesus is God. Unlike the gnostics who believe in an evil creator God, a demiurge, and a benevolent phantasm God, Jesus; the truth is that God is both the one who saves and one who punishes! They believe that the Creator God made evil material, hence Jesus, having substance, could not be good! Given that, they believed that Jesus didn't physically die on the cross, only the Holy Ghost did!
As Jesus is God, he too is the Holy Ghost and vice-versa.
Ananias and Sapphira who claimed Jesus as their savior lied to Jesus! They lied to the one who died for them. They disgruntled the Comforter. The Holy Ghost, just as would a good father, could not let sin go unpunished. The example had to be made to the church or there would be others who lie to God, steal from God and make Christianity just another den of thieves!
That too must be an example to us modern Christians. God is serious about his rules. We aren't at liberty to ignore God's will! We may not lose our souls, but we can lose our life. There are consequences to sin! One consequence is that Ananias and Sapphira grieved the Holy Ghost!
Ephesians 4:30 "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."Jesus blood "seals" Christians unto him. When the King issues a decree, no one can removed that seal... except the King himself or the recipient. Since God "will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5), that leaves YOU! You can break that seal. Just as the Abrahamic Covenant was sealed by circumcision and only Abraham and the Jews could break the covenant, the Christian is the only one who can break the Covenant of Grace!
It's serious business, lying to the Holy Ghost. It's denying Jesus and why he died! Ananias and Sapphira were to make a "living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1), but they brought instead, the sacrifice of Cain!
Hebrews 11:4 "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain..."Cain lived, but was cursed! Ananias and Sapphira died immediately! There are consequences to sin and we're not to deceive the Holy Ghost! That's a denial of Jesus himself.
Ananias and Sapphira were worshiping another god besides God. Which God was it? The "Self" for them both! They gave a portion of their sacrifice to their own idol; withheld a portion of what was God's and put it toward the pleasure of their own idols. Then they lied about it! They had selfish hearts and lied to the Holy Ghost (by lying to Peter).
Many Christians still lie! No, they haven't lost their life yet, but they do lie. Lies are to protect or magnify their own idol, just as Ananias did! Lying is to pleasure and protect the pleasures of the "Self". Ananias may have deceived Peter, but it appears that he didn't, but regardless, Ananias could never deceive an omniscient God!
When Christians lie to others, especially about their relationship with God, the others may not know it, but the Holy Ghost does! When a person is protecting their own interests by lying, especially to appear to men as righteous, they are in danger of severe punishment. God won't let them get by because if he did, others would follow suit!
With that said, not only must I confess, but most Christians must repent as well! Ananias and Sapphira lied, but didn't repent. God is gracious and that would have covered it all! They furthered the lie without remorse. We must be honest with God. We must feel sorrow for our wrongs and repent! Grieving the Holy Ghost removes the "safety" we have in Christ, and to remain "safe" continual repentance is expedient.
My confession is this: At times I have been dishonest in my worship. There have been times that I withheld my tithe and failed to give Jesus my time. I have appeared to be all caught up with my repentance when some sins remained without repentance. I have thought evil things of other Christians and never gave them the benefit of the doubt. And I could go on and on...
I know how evil my heart has been at times. Just like Paul, I am "the chiefest of sinners". We all can't be, but we're all pretty bad! The "good" that Ananias and Sapphira did, and giving of their land was "good", was as filthy rags in the eyes of God! You see, doing one "good" to cover one "bad" is not how Christianity works! That's Hinduism and the removal of bad Karma. That's Islam and impressing God by works. It's by grace we're saved and it's because we're honest with God that he's graceful!
The "good" that you do is as rags as well. We all must repent. We must all stay on top of our iniquities, confessing them and asking for mercy!
I don't know if when Ananias and Sapphira gave up the "ghost", whether they gave up the Holy Ghost or not, but their hearts may not have belonged to God. That's a dangerous thing on which to gamble! This is an example of Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God! (read Jonathan Edward's sermon). We must never assume that we can lie to God and withhold our sacrifice (of self) and still be on good terms with God!
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