Note 5 at Acts 5:5: There has been much debate about this account of Ananias and Sapphira. Was it God that actually smote them or did they simply die from heart failure when they knew that they had been found out? If God killed them, how does that harmonize with God's punishment not coming on His covenant children (see note 8 at Jn. 5:14, p. 151 and note 8 at Jn. 12:31, p. 417)? Were they born-again believers or were they some of the tares that Jesus spoke of (Mt. 13:24-30, 36-43)?

First, we can confidently say that this was a direct judgment of God upon them. They did not just die of natural causes. Someone might think they died from fear if they look at the death of Ananias only, but when Sapphira came in, Peter pronounced God's judgment upon her. Also, the reaction of everyone who heard of this would lead us to believe this was a direct act of God. The people greatly feared God, as a result of this.

Next, how can we reconcile God bringing such punishment on His own children who have already had their sins paid for? No one argues that God deals with sin in the life of believers (Heb. 12:5-8), but His chastisement is always corrective, not punitive. What happened here?

It is possible that Ananias and Sapphira were not truly born again. Jesus taught in the parable of the tares that some of Satan's children were mixed among His true believers (see note 1 at Mt. 13:37, p. 200). If that were the case, then God's wrath falling on Ananias and Sapphira would be no different than Old Testament examples of God's punishment. They didn't have a covenant with God, so God was totally just in calling their account due.

It is also possible that Ananias and Sapphira could have been true believers who had become reprobate. The first century church was walking in a revelation of Jesus that would make it very hard for an unbeliever to go undetected. Also, the fact that Luke states repeatedly that all the believers were of one heart and one mind (Acts 2:46; 4:24, 32) plus the fact that there was real persecution against the believers would lead one to believe that Ananias and his wife were a part of the church.

If Ananias and Sapphira were born-again believers and they renounced their salvation because of greed, that would have removed them from the new covenant and made them candidates for the wrath of God (see note 4 at Jn. 3:36, p. 100).

Many people find it hard to believe that God would hold a believer accountable to the point of being reprobate for greed and deception. After all, there are Christians today who lie and cheat and we don't see them falling over dead.

Hebrews 6:4-6 shows that only mature Christians are capable of rejecting their salvation. Most Christians today aren't mature and therefore God passes over their blasphemies even as He did with Saul who became the apostle Paul (see note 1 at Mt. 12:31, p. 186). However, Ananias and Sapphira were a part of the early church that was walking in a revelation of Jesus and His love as possibly no other group of believers has ever done. They had experienced much and were therefore accountable for much (see note 5 at Lk. 12:48, p. 331).