hope – Faith in Jesus

You Lie, You Die

In spite of the title, this is not a cautionary tale. Instead it investigates a few aspects of Acts 5, the story of the unenviable married couple, Ananias and Sapphira. They were among the early church when,

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. (Acts 4:32)

Accordingly, Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of land and gave some of the money to the apostles. However, they lied, claiming it was all the money. When Peter understood that they were lying, he declared: “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” The story continues, “When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died.” When Sapphira, who was not present, arrived later, she, too, maintained the lie and she, too, fell down dead.

Note that Peter did not tell Ananias that he was to die. Nor did he curse Ananias. Nor did he pray Ananias would die. He simply exposed the lie. Ananias and Sapphira were the ones that died seemingly of their own accord. No other agent is mentioned. Most Christians, of course, believe that one way or another, the Holy Spirit either killed them or withdrew from them the grace to continue living. But that is only conjecture.

The fruit of their deaths was that “Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.” Apparently, the church, in spite of being at one of its historical high points in terms of giving, sharing, and experiencing miracles, nevertheless suffered from a lack of respect for the truth and the consequences of lying. But through the death of the couple, it gained deeper respect of God and truth. Non believers also “heard about these events,” with the result that “No one else dared join them [the followers of Jesus], even though they were highly regarded by the people.” Far from being laughable or lamentable, the church was, for the moment, fully respectable.

At this point, I’d like to reiterate the fact that the agent of death is not specified, only the cause (lying to God). Some of my favorite Christian teachers think it impossible that a true Christian would die upon lying to God. Joseph Prince, James Barron, and Andrew Farley, three contemporary teachers on the grace of God, find it impossible. Their arguments assume that God only punishes a person who is not forgiven—thus the need to relegate Ananias and Sapphira to the category of unbelievers.^[1]

But is that true? We find a case of discipline among the Corinthians that was both severe enough to be considered punishment and was clearly imposed on a believer. It involved the man sleeping with his father’s wife (1 Corinthians 5). Paul orders the Corinthian church to “hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” The destruction of the flesh suggests something dire, such as death or suicide. The redeeming aspect of the punishment is that the man’s spirit may be saved—something I assume happens with Ananias and Sapphira.

There’s an irony here. Those who judge Ananias and Sapphira as being unbelievers do so in order to maintain the supremacy of God’s grace. However, in doing so, they relegate Ananias and Sapphira to hell as a result. By contrast, I see Ananias and Sapphira as proceeding on a very dangerous course (lying to God publicly) with the result that God their Father disciplines them by allowing them to die so that they, being rid of their earthly identity, can enjoy their true relationship with God forever.

It would be, according to the instance in Corinth, Satan who is the author of destruction. And so it must be with Ananias and Sapphira. In lying deliberately to the apostles, they are siding with Satan, the father of lies. Somehow Peter’s presence and recognition made life unbearable to Ananias and, later, to Sapphira, so that they imploded, so to speak. Admittedly, it’s a mystery how a revelation of sin could have such disastrous consequences to the human body. Perhaps the couple were so attached to the lie that, in exposing it, Peter shined a light so bright that the removal of the lie pushed them beyond their human limits.

Far from excluding Ananias and Sapphira from the body of Christ, I welcome them. What happened to them would be tragic from the human point of view but blessed in eternity. It prevented them from pursuing a course of apostasy. It prevented the church from taking the reality of God glibly. It prevented outsiders from looking at the Christians as a pathetic, powerless, compromising sect.

This corrective miracle of destruction, like all miracles, is needed still in this world. Think of the scandalous Christian preachers who, if they had died at the moment of being exposed, would have had, really, a better end. In addition, think of how much more respect the world would have for believers if telling lies were seen as consequential.

Peter later wrote, “For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God” (1 Peter 4:17). Perhaps he was reflecting on the benefits of the great and terrible deaths of Ananias and Sapphira.

| Footnotes |

^[1] In this YouTube video, Joseph Prince asserts Ananias and Sapphira were not believers: “Top 6 Most Misunderstood Verses in the Bible Explained.” Prince leans heavily on the fact that Ananias was referred to as “a man” and not “a disciple,” a distinction that often applies in the book of Acts.

But I find exceptions. The most notable one is where the angel tells Cornelius to summon “a man called Simon [Peter]” in Acts 10. Clearly Peter qualifies as a disciple. I’d hate to think angels could not keep the terminology straight, being by definition, messengers from God. In several instances a “man” with faith gets healed, the first being in Acts 3, where the “man who was lame from birth” was healed by Jesus’ name as commanded by Peter. The next one, in Acts 9, where Peter found “a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years.” Peter healed him on the spot. Finally, in Acts 14, involved another “man who was lame.” Paul sees that the man “had faith to be healed” and commanded him to stand up, which the man did, being instantly.

Using Prince’s logic, these recipients of healing were not true believers (as he claims Ananias and Sapphira were not true believers). At this point his logic works against him because he would be the first to say that faith in Jesus is all that is required to make one a new creation.

James Barron also asserts Ananias and Sapphira were not believers in this YouTube video: “Jesus The Door To A New Reality Now | Seeing Grace 7-24-2025.” Barron uses the argument that Prince used, stating that Ananias and Sapphira are not called disciples.

Andrew Farley also asserts they were not believers in several YouTube videos, including this one: “The Truth About Ananias and Sapphira.” His treatment is more nuanced than the others. He admits that the scriptures do not say God killed them, only that they died. He suggests that the scriptures also do not say they were believers. Finally, he asserts that Satan cannot fill a believer’s heart, something central to his theology. Farley goes on to make a useful distinction between punishment (always about the past) and discipline (always about the future). This distinction, however, raises the question of God’s character. Would the Father of light, the God of love, the One represented by Jesus ever impose a punishment that had no importance for the future? What, one asks, is the benefit of inflicting pain if it does not lead to the reformation of a person? Again, the logic works against itself. The attempt is to show how complete Christ’s sacrifice is, but by excluding Ananias and Sapphira from being recipients of severe “discipline,” Farley is, basically, concluding they are hell bound, making one wonder how the line between grace and condemnation can be drawn on such thin evidence.

One might ask why I am criticizing three contemporary teachers of the gospel whom I esteem. It is because their defense of their gospel of grace leads them to interpret Ananias and Sapphira with unnecessary condemnation. We know from the instance in Corinth that a believer can make such bad decisions that he can be handed over to Satan, but this is only so that his spirit may be saved.

I know that the polemical intensity these three teachers apply to Ananias and Sapphira arises from a defense of the gospel of grace. A false dichotomy is created in the following way. A critic of their gospel will say, “God’s grace is not sufficient to protect these believers from punishment.” The grace teachers, then, offer the rebuttal by arguing that Ananias and Sapphira are not at all believers. Another approach would be that God’s grace is unlimited and, instead of allowing the mislead couple to continue to hurt both themselves and the body of Christ, God delivered them from their bodies, fulfilling the cry of every mature believer, to be “away from the body and at home with the Lord” (Acts 5)

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This post was first published on: Dec 7, 2025. If this article is significantly updated, the publication date beneath the title may change, just as it might change in order to bring current posts to the top (or bottom) of the directory.

Vaccinated Against the Best News

About Vaccination and the Best News

Vaccination against disease involves getting a small dose of something infectious with the result that one’s immune system gains the upper hand against the infection, eradicating it (smallpox) or nearly so (polio).

Vaccination against the best news involves getting just enough news to underrate and ignore it—or getting such a mangled presentation of the news as to reject it.

The best news is the news about Jesus. In Greek it’s called εὐαγγέλιον (good messenger or gospel), but as a reminder of its significance, I occasionally refer to it as the best news.

In brief, the best news involves the following: Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate around A.D 33, was buried, but rose from the dead and returned to his Father in heaven, sending his Spirit to us on earth, so that by faith we can share his life forever.

Non-Christians can be vaccinated against this gospel—and often are. Surprisingly, Christians, too, can be vaccinated against the very faith they claim—and this is a seriously bad vaccination.

How to Vaccinate an Unbeliever

Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. (from Matthew 13:18-19)

In Jesus’ parable, some people reject the gospel out of hand because they do not understand it. Too little understanding vaccinates them against believing—often for the rest of life. It happens this way: as they age, they later encounter the good news in various forms. However, first impressions being lasting ones, they (honestly) think to themselves: “Oh, that. I decided long ago that it wasn’t for me.”

When this happens, only something sensational or catastrophic—or both—will awaken them to the value of the best news. A divorce, an arrest, an addiction, an affliction, the death of a loved one, or the growing realization that one’s life is meaningless—such events may awaken a person’s faith.

A miracle can reverse the course of one’s vaccinated life, leading the person to earnestly look for Jesus. It may consist of experiences such as a physical healing, the exposure to a person of faith whose love and integrity cannot be ignored, or discovering that the words of the Bible suddenly make sense in a way they previously did not.

How to Vaccinate a Believer

The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil. . . . (from Matthew 13:20-23)

A believer becomes vaccinated against the gospel by a lack of perseverance.

Difficulties, persecutions, disappointments, listening uncritically to skeptics and higher criticism, finding oneself in the clutches of a vice—all or any of these can dissuade one from believing. When things don’t always line up—and when does everything line up in this world?—we all tend to capitulate. Either the promises in the gospel don’t come true, or shiny things in the visible world start seeming much more interesting than seeking God. Material goods, social status, handsome and beautiful people, intellectual superiority—these and others may swarm into one’s life, rendering the initial enthusiasm and its attendant beliefs insignificant.

The lynchpin to getting a full vaccination is finally to stop reading or listening to the gospel altogether. Instead, listen to interpretations of it, particularly skeptical ones. Better, listen exclusively to alternate explanations of the meaning of life, including the one that dismisses as unimportant the meaning of life.

Allow me to grant the possibility that one’s previous commitment to the gospel may have been a genuine mistake. Assume that what I call “perseverance” increasingly becomes a gross denial of reality as one matures. This could be the case, and I’ve considered it a possibility in my own life. One element that keeps me believing in spite of this possibility is found within the gospels themselves. Repeatedly, Jesus warns against being bamboozled out of one’s faith. The parable of the sower quoted above is one example. Another comes from Luke 21:34-36:

Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.

The Gospel of Matthew, similarly, has several reminders for believers to be vigilant, to “watch” both that one is not deceived by a false prophet or that one is not spiritually asleep at the return of Jesus.

I urge all of us: don’t miss the the true gospel. This is the one that Paul said comes not only in word but also in power. If Jesus told his disciples they were of little faith, so much more are we prone to mistaking a knowledge of Jesus for faith in him. It behooves us to humble ourselves and ask God to teach us how to live in power as well as in word.

It might take time and the discomfort of the unknown, but once the eyes of our heart are enlightened, then we will be free from being referred to as a people whose lips are near to God but whose hearts are far away.

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This post was first published on: May 29, 2024. If this article is significantly updated, the publication date beneath the title may change in order to bring current posts to the top of the directory.

A Spiritual Checklist

I was thinking about all the things Jesus told his followers to do. Me? I don’t do many of those things. Am I ok? Are you? Go through this checklist to the key at the bottom and see for yourself.

I’ll start the checkpoints with the less stressful and move up to the harder sayings (at least for me). In the end, it will feel like a trick checklist. But that’s because it is. By design it echos the paradoxical nature of grace: in our weakness God’s strength is made perfect (2 Cor. 12:9).

The Checklist

this is anonymous & none of your choices is saved anywhere. Refresh the page to start over (don’t you wish life were that easy?)

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.” (Matthew 6:5-6)
Always

Often, even Oftener than Not

Often, even Almost Often

Never or Almost Never
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind . . . .” (Luke 10:27)
Always

Often, even Oftener than Not

Often, even Almost Often

Never or Almost Never
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12)“
Always

Often, even Oftener than Not

Often, even Almost Often

Never or Almost Never
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” (John 15:5-6)
Always

Often, even Oftener than Not

Often, even Almost Often

Never or Almost Never
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)
Always

Often, even Oftener than Not

Often, even Almost Often

Never or Almost Never
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” (Matthew 5:38-39)
Always

Often, even Oftener than Not

Often, even Almost Often

Never or Almost Never
“And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” (Matthew 5:40-42)
Always

Often, even Oftener than Not

Often, even Almost Often

Never or Almost Never
“Now if your right eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” (Matthew 5:29)
Always

Often, even Oftener than Not

Often, even Almost Often

Never or Almost Never

How Do You Check Out?

Careful, here! If what follows were always accepted by all Christians, we may never have had the Reformation, including the bloody history that led up to and away from it. So you might find yourself disagreeing with what I offer. That’s ok. This checklist is to make us think, not to define us.

Click here for the evaluation key

The key for #1-8 is that most of us will have had to put down “Often, even Almost Often” or “Never or Almost Never” for several if not all of them.

If you have “Always” on most or all of them, I want to interview you!

Rarely do I give away what I am wearing and rarely do I lend to strangers (#7)—we know from the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus meant strangers. Frankly, I’ve never plucked out an eye literally and rarely figuratively (#8).

All of these pronouncements from Jesus are quite important, but it doesn’t necessarily follow that they are on his checklist (nor that he has one). Nor nor does it mean that they were spoken with the expectation that his listeners would painfully eek them out with all the self-righteousness they could muster. We saw what happened when Peter tried that.

Watchman Nee—among others—assures us that the reason Jesus could raise such a high bar was because he believed so fully in his ability to live his life through us by our faith.

Here are the final two checkpoints:

“Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.'” (John 6:28-29)
Always

Often, even Oftener than Not

Often, even Almost Often

Never or Almost Never
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life . . . .” (John 3:36)
Always

Often, even Oftener than Not

Often, even Almost Often

Never or Almost Never

When we get to #9 and #10, faith kicks in. Believe that Jesus already offered his life to you so he could live through you, and you are on the road. You can admit to him that you need help with everything. It’s his ability and not yours that makes the good news good. My wish is that we would all be able to put “Often, even Oftener than Not” for #9 and #10.

If the checklist has any value, it is to remind us to rely on Jesus, to learn to be quiet and trusting, to give thanks in all things, to make our requests known to our Father, to cast all our cares on him, knowing that he cares for us.

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This post was first published on: June 3, 2024. If this article is significantly updated, the publication date beneath the title may change, just as it might change in order to bring current posts to the top (or bottom) of the directory.

An Account in the Name of Yourself or of Jesus?

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Jesus frequently used money as a metaphor—in 13 out of 39 parables according to one source. Among its uses, decisions concerning money represent resentment toward God, forgiveness from moral debt, and divine generosity.

The Money Metaphor Once More

Assume you can have only one account at the Bank of Morality. You can have the account in your name or in the name of Jesus, as a co-signer. You choose how you will be identified.

The account in your name would go something like this: sometimes you’d have a positive balance of moral assets, sometimes negative. When positive, you’d feel pretty good about yourself. You might even look down on others who were in the negative. You would undergo stress at times, fearing you’d somehow compromise. When you did begin to lose your ground, your stress and anxiety would increase considerably. If you lost too much ground, you’d suffer insufferable guilt—and that’s too much guilt to be sure.

The account in Jesus’ name would go something like this: everything you need would have been paid for (note the past tense). His account offers no pride for being righteous, nor guilt for past sins. It is his account, not yours or mine. We are purely beneficiaries. Receiving the gift of a completely new identity is a humbling thing. It is also a peaceful, joyful, loving thing.

Need forgiveness? Done, first from before time in the heart of God and later in history made unforgettable while Jesus was on the cross. Need redemption? Already done. Need better behavior (also called sanctification)? It’s yours! Really? Yes, the Account Holder has already lived a perfect life and will live it again, in you, step by step as you trust him. The entire account is yours by faith. Faith or trust is the only thing you are asked to contribute and even that’s a gift! No room for boasting, plenty of room for gratitude.

One can piece all these things together easily by reading the letters of Paul and others in the New Testament. But one statement from Paul says it all: “But it is due to God that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption” (I Corinthians 1:30). In Jesus’ account there can never be a negative balance. It’s all too good to be true in this world, but it is standard fare for the kingdom of God.

What, then, are the downsides of signing on to the account of Jesus? First downside: it’s invisible. Being invisible, it takes faith, something many of us discount in favor of our feelings. One will never have faith without listening to the revealed words of God and allowing the Spirit of God to reveal their meaning. This happens to me over time, not over night. Second downside: there’s no boasting, no pride. Any sense of one’s importance must be replaced by one’s sense of being loved. No more judging others, no more taking credit for one’s successes—everything shifts to relying on Jesus’ accomplishment. When, on the cross, he said, “It is finished”—he meant it in the broadest sense. The redemption of humanity was finished.

The upside of the second downside is that when pride and boasting are ruled out, guilt and fear also disappear. One is defined no longer by one’s track record but by the success Jesus possesses as a redeemer.

Which will it be, this day and every day? Are we so significant that we somehow are too bad or too weak for Jesus to save? Must we open an independent account just in case he fails or in case he needs assistance?

God forbid.

God bids us to be redeemed not redeemers. Let’s trade in our worry and anxiety for gratitude and thanksgiving. Close that independent account, you, fellow beneficiary of the life of Jesus!

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This post was first published on: Dec 6, 2023 at 16:48. If this article is significantly updated, the publication date beneath the title may change, just as it might change in order to bring current posts to the top (or bottom) of the directory.

Category: hope