In Acts 4.32 through 5.11 we get a glimpse into the culture of the early church. We’ve already shown that the economic situation of the early church was not socialist in its structure, but was rather based on grace and generous giving. For more details on this please see the article here.

The passage begins with an acknowledgement of the presence of God’s great grace, then shows how through gracious giving the needs of the believers were met. Chapter four ends with a good example of a man who sold a farm and gave all the money to the believers. This is starkly contrasted to the bad example that kicks off chapter 5. Contrary to popular teaching these stories are less about economics than they are about hypocrisy.

Ananias and Sapphira also sold property and also contributed to the needs of the burgeoning Christian community. Their sin, which resulted in their deaths, wasn’t about what they did but about how they represented their actions. If they had given their money and properly presented their gift, as a portion of the proceeds, they would have been exempted from punishment and been another great example of the early churches generosity. Instead, they gave a portion of their profits and, when making their donation, represented their contribution as the entire sum made from the sale.

I know what you’re thinking, it seems a bit over-the-top to punish such deceit with death. Keep in mind that this is the start of the church age, and precedence needed to be set. There would be no tolerance for the hypocrisy found in the temple.

But there is another reason for the dire consequences. Under the old covenant sins were covered by sacrifice, a constant reminder of the seriousness of sin. Under the new covenant Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for all sins, once for all. It would be easy to take such grace for granted. Indeed, we see that only a couple decades after this alarming example Paul has to write to the Romans, “Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound? Absolutely not!”

This is a message believers today need to understand. We have a tendency to take sin too lightly and stress the bonds of God’s good grace. While we may not die as dramatically as Ananias and Sapphira, God takes sin just as seriously. If we want to make connections with God and draw near to him, we must deal with our sin.