Acts 5:3 - Exposition

Thy for thine, A.V. Peter said. It was given to Peter on this occasion, by the Holy Ghost, to read the secrets of Ananias's heart, just as it was given to Elisha to detect Gehazi's lie ( 2 Kings 5:25 , 2 Kings 5:26 ); and the swift punishment inflicted in both cases by the word of the man of God—leprosy in one case, and sudden death in the other—is another point of strong resemblance. To lie to the Holy Ghost. It is only one instance among many of the pure spiritual atmosphere in which the Church then moved, that a lie to the apostle was a lie to the Holy Ghost under whose guidance and by whose power the apostle acted. Ananias's fraud was an ignoring of the whole spiritual character of the apostles' ministry, and was accordingly visited with an immediate punishment. The death of Ananias and Sapphira was a terrible fulfillment of the promise, "Whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained" ( John 20:23 ).