#BibleStudy Expressions of Faith. Acts Ch 5. Nevertheless

Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 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.

³ Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? ⁴ Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

⁵ When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. ⁶ Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

⁷ About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.⁸ Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”

“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”

⁹ Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

¹⁰ At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

¹³ No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 

Acts 5:1-13*

8. Nevertheless

Chapter 5 opens with the grisly story of the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira.

This husband and wife wanted to be part of the dynamic, rapidly growing church in Jerusalem.

• There are no rules reported about conduct required for membership.
• Some people sold possessions and brought their proceeds as offerings to fund the ministry.

Ananias and Sapphira sold a field.

• They brought money to the disciples as others did.
• Remember: there were no rules about whether to sell, what to sell, or what to give if you sold something.

It’s implied in Acts 4:34 that people who sold property donated all the proceeds to the church.

By the way, the word church is first used in Acts 5:11.

Read verses 1-12. 

• Ananias and Sapphira conspire to defraud God.
• They bring their gift and say they were donating the full sale price.
• Because of their deceit, God strikes down first Ananias, then Sapphira.

Verse 11 reports the fear of people in Jerusalem.

This is from the footnote on verse 13 from my NIV Study Bible.

• Because of the fate of Ananias and his wife, no pretenders or halfhearted followers risked identification with the believers.

 (Page 1652)

Verse 14 reveals the power of the Holy Spirit.

14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.

Are you living a lie?

If so, this nevertheless is for you!

My next Expression of Faith is  Angelic Irony

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