Acts 5

This chapter belongs to the account of the Jerusalem church in the opening section of Acts. It follows the end of chapter 4 (Acts 4:32–35), where believers sell their property to share with one another and Barnabas brings the price of his field. Chapter 5 opens with an incident that stands in contrast to that example.

Outline

• Verses 1–11 Ananias and his wife Sapphira keep back part of the price of the land they sold and lay the rest at the apostles' feet. When Peter rebukes them for lying to the Holy Spirit, the two fall down and die, one after the other, about three hours apart, and great fear comes upon the whole church.
• Verses 12–16 Many signs and wonders are done through the apostles. The believers gather in Solomon's Porch, and people lay the sick in the streets, hoping that at least Peter's shadow might fall on them.
• Verses 17–26 The high priest and the Sadducees put the apostles in prison, but an angel of the Lord opens the prison doors by night and brings them out. The apostles teach in the temple from early morning, and the captain of the temple brings them back again, though without force, because he fears the people.
• Verses 27–32 Questioned before the council, Peter and the apostles answer that they must obey God, and they bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus.
• Verses 33–39 Gamaliel, a Pharisee, cites the examples of Theudas and Judas of Galilee and advises the council to leave the apostles alone.
• Verses 40–42 The council has the apostles beaten and releases them. The apostles rejoice that they were counted worthy to suffer shame, and they continue daily to teach and preach.

Key Verses

• Acts 5:3–4 "To lie to the Holy Ghost … thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God" — Because lying to the Holy Spirit is described as lying to God, this passage is often cited as evidence for the deity of the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1–4).
• Acts 5:29 "We ought to obey God rather than men" — A representative verse for situations in which faith and governing authority come into conflict (Acts 5:29).
• Acts 5:38–39 — Gamaliel's counsel that if the work is of men it will come to nothing, but if it is of God it cannot be overthrown.

People and Places

• Ananias and Sapphira, Peter
• The high priest and the Sadducees; the council (Sanhedrin)
• Gamaliel: a Pharisee and teacher of the law held in honor by the people.
• Theudas and Judas of Galilee: men cited by Gamaliel as examples of leaders who gathered followers and then came to ruin.
• Solomon's Porch: a colonnade (a covered walkway lined with rows of columns) in the outer court of the Jerusalem temple.

Points for Reflection

• The text does not say whether the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira meant the loss of their salvation. Many interpreters read the episode as God's judgment to preserve the holiness of the church in its earliest days. Because verse 4 states that the land and its proceeds remained at the owner's disposal both before and after the sale, the passage is also read as evidence that sharing property was not compulsory.
• Verse 15 records only what the people hoped for; it does not directly state that the shadow healed anyone.
• Verse 29 is frequently discussed alongside 1 Peter 2:13–17, which calls for submission to governing authorities, in debates on the church and politics.
• The activity of Theudas recorded by Josephus is generally dated later than Gamaliel's speech. Some regard the Theudas of Acts as a different person of the same name, while others treat the matter as a chronological problem.
• Gamaliel appears again in Acts 22:3 as Paul's teacher.

In the Korean Church

The story of Ananias and Sapphira is frequently used in sermons and church school lessons on offerings and honesty.