Acts 8:24

Peter’s rebuke terrified Simon. A man with the spiritual power Simon had seen Peter demonstrate was no one to antagonize. Probably Simon’s request for prayer that God would be merciful to him was sincere.

Many interpreters believe that Simon was not a genuine believer, but he may have been. True Christians can do and have done everything that Simon said and did. His background, fresh out of demonism, makes his conduct easier to understand. I see him as another Ananias except that Ananias knew exactly what he was doing whereas Simon’s error seems to have involved ignorance to some extent. Probably that is why he did not suffer the same fate as Ananias. Both men became examples to the Christians in their respective areas of how important it is to behave under the control of the Holy Spirit (cf. Ephesians 5:15-21).