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Genesis 3:13-17
And the LORD God said unto the woman, Whatis thisthat thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat…

1 Kings 22:21,22
And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him…

1 Chronicles 21:1-3
And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel…

lie to.

Acts 5:9
Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husbandare at the door, and shall carry thee out.

Job 22:13
And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?

Psalm 94:7-9
Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regardit…

to keep.

Numbers 30:2
If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.

Deuteronomy 23:21
When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee.

Proverbs 20:25
It is a snare to the manwho devoureththat which is holy, and after vows to make inquiry.

“Ananias,
Ananias is a member of the early Christian community in Jerusalem. His name, meaning "God is gracious," contrasts with his actions in this narrative. This account is one of the few times he is mentioned in the Bible, highlighting the seriousness of his actions.

how is it that Satan has filled your heart
This phrase indicates the spiritual battle between good and evil, a theme prevalent throughout Scripture. Satan, the adversary, is depicted as influencing believers to act against God's will. This echoes the temptation of Judas Iscariot (Luke 22:3) and serves as a warning about the susceptibility of believers to spiritual deception.

to lie to the Holy Spirit
Lying to the Holy Spirit underscores the personhood and deity of the Holy Spirit, a core tenet of Christian doctrine. This act of deceit is not merely against human leaders but against God Himself, emphasizing the gravity of sin within the community of believers.

and withhold some of the proceeds from the land?
The early church practiced communal living, where believers shared their possessions (Acts 4:32-35). Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, sold a piece of property but deceitfully kept part of the money while pretending to donate the full amount. This act of withholding reflects a lack of integrity and trust in God's provision, contrasting with the generosity of Barnabas (Acts 4:36-37).

Peter speaks with unmistakable apostolic authority. This same fisherman who preached at Pentecost (Acts 2:14) now confronts sin inside the church. His words remind us that faithful leaders must address spiritual danger quickly and clearly (Titus 1:13). Because the risen Christ had entrusted him with “the keys of the kingdom” (Matthew 16:19), Peter’s rebuke carries divine weight, not mere personal offense.

Luke singles out one man whose private plan threatened the health of the whole fellowship. Like Barnabas, Ananias had sold property (Acts 4:36-37), yet—unlike Barnabas—he craved the reputation of generosity without the sacrifice. This name that once meant “Yahweh is gracious” now becomes a sober warning: grace is never a license to sin (Romans 6:1-2).

• Ananias enjoyed every privilege of the early church’s love and teaching, so his deception was willful, not ignorant.

• His partner, Sapphira, later confirms the shared plot (Acts 5:9), showing that sin often seeks company to feel safer.

Peter exposes the unseen battlefield: Satan had “filled” Ananias’ heart, the same verb used for the Spirit’s filling of believers (Acts 4:31). The enemy cannot possess those sealed by Christ, yet believers can yield ground through deceit and pride (Ephesians 4:27). Peter’s question presses personal responsibility—“How is it?” Judas heard a similar warning when “Satan entered him” (Luke 22:3), but choice remained.

Key takeaways:

• Spiritual warfare is real and active inside the church (1 Peter 5:8).

• Yielding to temptation begins in the heart long before the outward act (James 1:14-15).

The Spirit is not an impersonal force but a divine person; lying to Him means lying to God Himself (Acts 5:4). This sin strikes at God’s holiness within His people (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). “The Spirit of truth” (John 16:13) will not tolerate the cultivation of falsehood in a community meant to display truth.

Consider:

• Lying is fundamentally anti-Spirit, for He is “the Spirit of truth.”

• Deceit in worship grieves the Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) and disrupts fellowship (1 John 1:6-7).

The problem was not partial giving; it was pretending to give the whole while secretly keeping a share. Peter later says, “Was it not your own?” (Acts 5:4). God loves cheerful, voluntary generosity (2 Corinthians 9:7), but He hates hypocrisy that masks greed with piety (Luke 12:1-2). By withholding in this way, Ananias robbed both God and the family of believers, echoing the charge inMalachi 3:8.

Practical implications:

• Stewardship is measured by honesty, not by amount.

• Community trust is fragile; deceit infects it quickly (Joshua 7:1, 11-12).

Acts 5:3 unveils the seriousness of hidden sin in the church. Peter, exercising God-given authority, confronts Ananias, whose heart has granted Satan entrance through hypocrisy. The sin is not simple retention of funds but the deliberate lie directed at the Holy Spirit, undermining God’s truth and the unity of His people. The passage challenges every believer to guard the heart, walk in transparency, and give with integrity, knowing that the Spirit of truth dwells among us and sees every concealed motive.

To lie to the Holy Ghost.--The words admit of two tenable interpretations. Ananias may be said to "have lied unto the Holy Ghost," either (1) as lying against Him who dwelt in the Apostles whom he was seeking to deceive; or (2) as against Him who was the Searcher of the secrets of all hearts, his own included, and who was "grieved" (Ephesians 4:31) by this resistance in one who had been called to a higher life. The apparent parallelism of the clause inActs 5:4 is in favour of (1); but there is in the Greek a distinction, obviously made deliberately, between the structure of the verb in the two sentences. Here it is used with the accusative of the direct object, so that the meaning is "to cheat or deceive the Holy Spirit;" there with the dative, "to speak a lie, not to men, but to God;" and this gives a sense which is at least compatible with (2). The special intensity of the sin consisted in its being against the light and knowledge with which the human spirit had been illumined by the divine. The circumstance that it was also an attempt to deceive those in whom that Spirit dwelt in the fulness of its power comes in afterwards as a secondary aggravation. . . .