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The Deliberate Deception

Acts 5:1

Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, sold a piece of property and brought proceeds from that sale to the apostles to contribute to the needs of the Jerusalem church. Unfortunately, there was a dark side to this seemingly virtuous act.

The word "but" at the beginning of verse one is critical—it denotes a contrast between what follows (the story of the husband and wife) and what came before (the story of the godly man, Barnabas).

Barnabas was part of the "sweet aroma" (Eph. 5:1) in the early church. He sold a piece of personal property and "brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet" for the good of the church in Jerusalem. It was a purely sacrificial gift on his part. "But," verse one begins, Ananias and Sapphira also sold some land and "kept back part of the proceeds . . . and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet."

See the contrast? Barnabas sold his property and gave all the money, while Ananias and Sapphira sold their property and only gave part of the money. Is that a sin? Not at all. There was no requirement in the church for anyone to sell anything or give anything. The problem was that Ananias and Sapphira created the impression that they had given all the proceeds from their sale like Barnabas did. In reality, they kept part of the money for themselves. They wanted credit for doing what Barnabas did—giving a sacrificial gift—but without paying the price Barnabas paid. Their sin was not that they kept some of the money for themselves. Their sin was deceit, hypocrisy, and lying—creating an impression that was not true or genuine.

Someone has written, "No one is so ugly in God's sight as the man or woman who flaunts a spiritual beauty that they do not possess."

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