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?

Acts 5:1-5



5 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.



“Dared to Insult Spirit”



Gospel is good news. It gives life to the lifeless and hope for the hopeless. Gospel is also wonderful news of God’s love. God so loved us that He gave His only son for us. But, the bible, which is the book of God’s love, sometimes shock us with a horror story. In the Old Testament, we see the loving and caring God sometimes order to annihilate an entire nation including animals. How can God be so cruel and merciless? So some people thought that can’t be our God. An ancient theologian named Marcion and his followers even argued that we should exclude such stories from the Bible. But the Bible is what God gave us. We can’t pick and choose only what we like. Some New Testament readers can feel the same way with Ananias and Sapphira. It’s such a shocking story. How can loving and forgiving God can put the pitiful couple to death even though it is true that they cheated with the offering? Isn’t it too harsh for the petty sin? What do you think? It is true that it appears to be a petty sin to us. But Peter viewed it as far more grave sin than us. Peter said to Ananias, “Satan has so filled your heart and you have lied to the Holy Spirit?”. What Peter said was that Satan took complete control of Ananias. Ananias became a slave to Satan. And that was why Ananias dared to lie to the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit was another Comforter that Jesus had promised to send. The Holy Spirit came at the Pentecost as Jesus has promised. Then the powerful work of the Holy Spirit began. The Holy Spirit filled the disciples and the church with great power visible and invisible. Filled with the Holy Spirit, the disciples were transformed into fearless witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The church that was divided became completely united in love. Even though they couldn’t see the Holy Spirit, the presence and the work of the Holy Spirit was clearly visible. The church and disciples trusted in the Holy Spirit as they trusted in Jesus. The Holy Spirit was working more powerfully in them. Satan knew this. It didn’t like it. It wanted to stop the work of the Holy Spirit as it attempted to stop Jesus as Jesus began His ministry. Satan must have deceived Ananias to work for him. When Anania's mind was filled with Satan, he dared to lie to the Holy Spirit who looks into our hearts. It’s a sad and scary story. But it’s something we always have to keep in mind. When we are tempted to think that we can deceive God, we have to instantly turn away from the thought and humbly repent. God will gladly forgive us. If we don’t, we might fall into the temptation of Satan. Beware of Satan!