“And Peter said to her, ‘Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.’ And she said, ‘Yes, for so much.’” (Acts 5:8)
Yesterday we saw that the deception of Ananias and Sapphira was not an isolated incident. They allowed Satan to use them to attack the unity and purity of the church. Yet the question naturally arises: Were they not punished unreasonably harshly? Peter himself was hardly a model of faithfulness and integrity. When Jesus was arrested and it became dangerous to be associated with Him, Peter flatly denied three times that he had anything to do with Jesus. And now, only a few weeks later, he condemns Ananias and Sapphira to death for their lies. If Peter received forgiveness and a second chance, why not this couple?
God delights in forgiving. This is a central truth that appears throughout the Bible. But in order to receive forgiveness, a person must acknowledge their guilt and show repentance. Peter did. Ananias and Sapphira did not. Even when Peter explicitly gave Sapphira the opportunity to correct her lies, she continued to hypocritically claim that they had given all their money to the apostles, thereby testing the Spirit of the Lord (Acts 5:9). She did not want forgiveness because she was unwilling to admit her wrongdoing.
If you have gone astray, do not stubbornly persist in your mistake. Repent and ask God for forgiveness!