Act 5:11 | TNotes | STEP | 5:11 Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened: The sudden judgment on Ananias and then on Sapphira had a sobering effect on both the Christian community and those who heard about this incident (cp. Heb 10:31 ). Believers were forcefully reminded that they needed to be pure, and for non-Christians the believers’ integrity was reestablished, so that once again “all the people had high regard for them” (Acts 5:13 ). Yet it also made outsiders wary of joining a movement with such high standards (5:13 ). This divine “pruning” (see John 15:1-11 ) helped new growth to follow (Acts 5:14 ; cp. 6:5-7 ; 11:24 ; 21:20 ).

a5:11►

bHeb 10:31►

cActs 5:13►

d5:13►

eJohn 15:1-11►

fActs 5:14►

g6:5-7►

h11:24►

i21:20►

‏ Acts 5:11

5:11 ^a Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened: The sudden judgment on Ananias and then on Sapphira had a sobering effect on both the Christian community and those who heard about this incident (cp. Heb 10:31 ^b). Believers were forcefully reminded that they needed to be pure, and for non-Christians the believers’ integrity was reestablished, so that once again “all the people had high regard for them” (Acts 5:13 ^c). Yet it also made outsiders wary of joining a movement with such high standards (5:13 ^d). This divine “pruning” (see John 15:1-11 ^e) helped new growth to follow (Acts 5:14 ^f; cp. 6:5-7 ^g; 11:24 ^h; 21:20 ⁱ).