Acts 5:3

But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?

'BUT PETER SAID, ANANIAS'-Possibly Ananias brought the money by himself. For Sapphira doesn't enter the picture until three hours later (Acts 5:7).

'WHY HATH SATAN FILLED THY HEART TO LIE TO THE HOLY SPIRIT'-

Points to Note:

Stott notes, 'As Peter plainly said later, their property was their own both before and after the sale (4)..So they were under no obligation to sell their piece of land or, having sold it, to give away any--let alone all--of the proceeds. That is not the whole story, however. There is something else, something half-hidden.' (p. 109)

Be impressed that the complaint is not that they didn't contribute the full price of the land. Peter didn't accuse them of being "frugal". Rather he accuses Ananias of lying, of being deceitful. The gave. portion of the sale price, UNDER THE IMPRESSION that they had given all. Stott notes, 'they wanted the credit and the prestige for sacrificial generosity, without the inconvenience of it. So, in order to gain. reputation to which they had no right, they told. brazen lie. Their motive in giving was not to relieve the poor, but to fatten their own ego.' (pp. 109-110)

Thus they were infected with two sins: The love of money (1 Timothy 6:10); and. love for the praise of men (Matthew 6:1).

'WHY'-'how is it' (TCNT). 'the force of the Greek seems to emphasize the fact that Ananias had it in his power to have prevented such. result.' (Gr. Ex. N.T. p. 141)

Points to Note:

Satan didn't overpower Ananias; Ananias had let him in (Ephesians 4:27; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8). Notice that Satan works on your heart/mind. He seeks to influence you to believe, think or dwell on wrong ideas (1 John 2:15). McGarvey notes, 'The existence and agency of the temper are distinctly recognized, yet it is not Satan, but Ananias, who is rebuked (so much for the excuse that the devil made me do it-MD)..The justice of this is manifest from the fact that Satan had no power over his heart without his cooperation.' (pp. 83-84)

Ananias and his wife had fooled themselves in thinking that they could have the respect shown to such men as Barnabas, for. "cheaper price". They also deceived themselves into thinking that they would get away with it.

'LIE TO THE HOLY SPIRIT'-Seeing that the apostles were Holy Spirit inspired men (Ephesians 3:3); to try to deceive them was in reality, trying to deceive the Holy Spirit Himself. By inspiration, Peter was told that Ananias was being deceitful.