Was God fair to Ananias and Saphira? Acts 5:4-5

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How does someone lie to God?

That's what Ananias was accused of. Lying to God. That's what Peter pointed to in order to explain the seriousness of his offense. Ananias lied not just to men, but to God. And he was struck down dead for it. It seems rather harsh. It seems that the punishment did not quite fit the crime. It seems like God is unfair and unkind.

I think there are several plausible answers that do not twist logic or twist the scriptures in order to leave room for God's fairness and equity...not to mention His love in the midst of this tragic story.

Most believers point to the seriousness of sin as the answer to this difficult story. If we only knew the true destruction of sin, we would not gasp in horror at the severity of a God that struck people dead for lying. We would bow in humble amazement to the God who stooped low enough to be killed himself in order to save people from their sins. God was not unfair. We are simply uneducated about the real pain of sin. A pain that lasts for eternity and that is caused by separation from God. A pain that God does not want us to have and therefore goes to great lengths both to educate us about that pain and even greater lengths to save us from it.

Most believers also think that God knew their hearts. If their hearts had been inclined to repentance then they would have been granted that chance. But just as Jesus knew the hearts of all men (John 2:25) while he was on the earth, so the Spirit would still know the hearts of all men when Jesus is in heaven. God must have known that there was not room in Ananias and Saphira's hearts for repentance and therefore He would not force them to be saved. But he would also not allow their pride and their sin to cause damage to His infant church.

I think those explanations have merit. But at the same time, I think about the debate between Kyle Butt and Dr Bart Ehrman about the problem of suffering. I was surprised to find while writing this that the video of the debate has been taken off of you tube. Since I cannot go back the video, I can only paraphrase from memory one section of the debate.

In that section, Dr. Ehrman very passionately reminded Kyle that the discussion of the problem of suffering was not simply a logical discussion. He chided Kyle for only wanting to talk about logic and for dismissing anything of emotion and finished by emphatically stating that we are human beings! Therefore, the conversations has to include the emotions involved in being human!

And that truth is why instead of focusing on the logic of how a very good God could strike dead Ananias and Saphira, I want instead to simply ask some questions of you that you will need to answer in order to keep your faith when emotions are very, very real.

Forget about the reasons for a minute. Let's say you can't think of a single good explanation for the deaths of these two early Christians (or people claiming to be Christians). Or maybe, you are reading this and you really don't accept the explanations I mentioned above. You, like Dr. Ehrman, are one that simply cannot get past the emotional reaction of discomfort- and even disgust- with a God who would do something like this. I want to challenge you to think about something else before trying to decided about God based on this story.

Is there enough reason to believe that God is real? Is there enough evidence scattered throughout creation to point to a Creator? Is there enough proof to point you to the God of the Bible instead of the other gods in the world of men? Are you convinced by the witnesses of Christ's resurrection? Have you weighed the evidence and decided that while faith is not yet sight and therefore all doubts have not been removed, the evidence does demand a verdict that God is real and Jesus is His Son?

And if so...have you been convinced through all of that study that He is sovereign...and that He loves you perfectly and infinitely?

If you have been convinced of those things, then could you continue to worship and praise God trusting that He is good even when you can't explain why some things happen that might seem unfair?

I choose to believe and to put my faith in Christ, not because I do not on occasion...and actually very often...have questions. I choose to believe because there is enough evidence to warrant belief even in spite of things I don't understand. And when I can't understand those things, I trust in Romans 8:32.

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

I am convinced for very good reasons that God gave us Jesus. And for that reason I will trust in Him even when I can't seem to come up with very good reasons for why something happened the way that it happened. What will you trust in?