We
believe that the case of Ananias and Saphira could be understood in two
ways. The first would be as a case of
church discipline under the authority of Peter.
Jesus
had given Peter the authority to bind and loose (Matt 16:17-19) and this
subject is more
fully developed in Matt 18:15-20. This
authority can be seen when Paul turned a man over
to Satan due to an adulterous relationship with his father's wife while the
church did nothing.
(1 Cor. 5:1-5) In this case the man repented
and was restored to fellowship (2 Cor. 2:6-8)
In the case of Ananias and Saphira,
apparently Peter was indignant at their duplicity and lying to the Holy Spirit
and chose to not show mercy.
The
other possibility is that they were not true believers and were simply
attaching themselves to the church for whatever reason. We can find evidence that in the early church
there were unbelievers who took advantage of the meetings and dinners:
Jude
1:12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you,
feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about
of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by
the roots;
1Co
11:19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are
approved may be made manifest among you.
1Co
11:27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the
Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
1Co
11:29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh
damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this cause
many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
And
we can see that there were others who had been in the faith and had later
rejected it:
1Ti
1:19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away
concerning faith have made shipwreck: 20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and
Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to
blaspheme.
Others
wanted to experience the power of the Holy Spirit without being true believers
(Acts 8:19-24). And
others were lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Yet they seemed to congregate with the true
believers.
2Ti 3:4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of
pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness,
but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6 For of this sort are they which
creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with
divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to
come to the knowledge of the truth. 8
Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the
truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 9 But they shall proceed no
further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also
was.
Whatever
the case of Ananias and Sapphira (whether they had rejected their faith, or
whether they were never true believers), we know that God's grace and
forgiveness exists for those who are truly His.