Act 5:1-4 | MHM | STEP | The Case of Ananias and Sapphira This passage tells the story of Ananias and Sapphira, a married couple in the early church who pretended to give all the money from selling their land, but secretly kept back part of it. Their story is a warning about hypocrisy and lying to God within the church. While many early Christians were generous and honest, Ananias and Sapphira acted differently, and God showed that he will not allow such deceit among his people. v. 1–2 : Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property. But instead of giving all the money to the apostles, as others had done, Ananias kept back part of the money for himself, with his wife’s knowledge. Then he brought only a part of the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet, pretending it was the full amount (Acts 5:1–2 ). Their main sin was pretending to be more generous than they really were, trying to look good in front of others while lying to the church and to God.

‏ Acts 5:1-4

The Case of Ananias and Sapphira

This passage tells the story of Ananias and Sapphira, a married couple in the early church who pretended to give all the money from selling their land, but secretly kept back part of it. Their story is a warning about hypocrisy and lying to God within the church. While many early Christians were generous and honest, Ananias and Sapphira acted differently, and God showed that he will not allow such deceit among his people.

v. 1–2: Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property. But instead of giving all the money to the apostles, as others had done, Ananias kept back part of the money for himself, with his wife’s knowledge. Then he brought only a part of the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet, pretending it was the full amount (Acts 5:1–2 ^a). Their main sin was pretending to be more generous than they really were, trying to look good in front of others while lying to the church and to God.

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v. 3–4: Peter, led by the Holy Spirit, confronted Ananias. He asked why Ananias had allowed Satan to fill his heart and lie to the Holy Spirit. Peter made it clear that Ananias was not forced to give all the money—he could have kept some or all of it if he wanted. The real problem was pretending to give it all and lying about it. Peter said, “You have not lied to men but to God” (Acts 5:3–4 ^b). Lying to the church is lying to the Holy Spirit, and God takes that seriously.

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