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In Acts 5:3, Peter told Ananias that Satan had filled his heart to lie to the Holy Spirit. What was the problem? Ananias, along with his wife, conspired to lie to the church, presumably to be seen as very generous people. They had sold a section of land and had given some of the money to help the needy. That wasn’t the problem. In fact, Peter told Ananias that both the property and the money were theirs to use at their discretion. The problem was, while giving some of the money, Ananias and Saphira claimed they were giving all of the money. Not only were they lying to the church, but they were also lying to a holy God. A couple of verses later, it says:
And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it. Acts 5:5
Verse nine says that Saphira, Ananias’ wife, was in on this too, putting “the Spirit of the Lord to the test.” She died for this sin as well. This is a serious matter. The Scriptures say God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). Therefore, to lie means to be ungodly. God must also be separated from sin (Isaiah 59:1–2). No wonder this situation struck fear into the early Christians! Do you think today’s church has this kind of fear?
Take the time to study what the Scriptures say about who God is. When you do, there is one word you can’t miss: “holy.” God is holy.
When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, He told him, “remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5).
Isaiah beheld the Lord sitting on His throne.
Then I said,
“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” Isaiah 6:5
When John saw Jesus in His glorified state, he “fell at His feet like a dead man” (Revelation 1:17). We look at those situations and say, “Of course the church was filled with fear! Of course Moses, Isaiah, and John responded to the glory of God those ways! If I saw what they saw, I would respond the same!”
No, we don’t see what they saw—at least not in the same way. However, we do serve the same God. When we look at the Scriptures, we see God for who He is. And the Scriptures describe Him, among other things, as holy.
In John 17:11, Jesus refers to the Father as “Holy Father.” In Luke 1:35, the angel refers to the Son of God who would be conceived by the Holy Spirit as “the holy Child.” And, of course, as we have been studying, the Spirit of God is referred to as “the Holy Spirit” about one hundred times in Scripture.
Discussion Question: What can you begin doing today that will truly reflect your understanding that God is holy?
← INTRODUCTION | DEVOTION 2 →
Scripture quotations are taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation
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