2026 Reading Plan Reflections - Day 171

If we’re honest, we would probably prefer a different ending to the story that opens Chapter 5. We would like to see Peter confront them, hear a confession, offer forgiveness, and watch them restored to fellowship. Instead, judgment falls swiftly, and great fear spreads through the church. It’s a difficult story.

Yet, perhaps our discomfort reveals something important. We are often very comfortable with God’s love, God’s grace, and God’s mercy. We are less comfortable with God’s holiness.

As I read Acts 5, my mind goes back to another troubling story in Scripture: the death of Uzzah when he reached out to steady the Ark of the Covenant. The story seems harsh at first glance, but it reminds us of a truth we often forget: God’s holiness is not something to be handled casually. God’s presence is not common. God’s glory is not something we control, manage, or use for our own purposes.  

In Acts 5, Luke seems to be telling us that the early church had become something like the Temple itself—a place where God’s presence dwelled among His people in a powerful and visible way. The same Spirit who empowered miracles, healings, generosity, and bold witness was also exposing hypocrisy and deceit.

The problem was never that Ananias and Sapphira kept some of the money. Peter makes it clear that the property belonged to them. They were free to give all of it, some of it, or none of it. The issue was the lie. They wanted the reputation of sacrificial generosity without actually being sacrificial. They wanted the appearance of holiness without the reality of it. In a church filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit, that kind of deception could not remain hidden.

There is a lesson here for us. We often pray for revival. We pray for the power of the Holy Spirit. We pray for miracles, conversions, and transformed lives. Those are good prayers. But revival is never only about power. It is also about holiness.

The same fire that warms also purifies.
The same Spirit who comforts also convicts.
The same God who welcomes sinners by grace is also the Holy One who calls His people to truth.

As Nazarenes, we speak often about holiness. Sometimes people hear that word and think only of rules or behavior. But biblical holiness begins with God. Holiness is God’s character, God’s purity, God’s otherness, God’s perfect love. To be a holy people means allowing every corner of our lives to be brought into the light of God's presence.

This story reminds us that there is no such thing as cheap grace. The church belongs to God. The Spirit is not a prop. The name of Jesus is not something we wear for appearances. When we claim to be God’s people, God takes that seriously — and that is actually good news.

The same holy presence that exposed the lie of Ananias and Sapphira was also healing the sick, delivering the oppressed, and drawing people to faith. The church that feared God was also the church through which God was changing lives.

Maybe if we took holiness more seriously, we might also see more of God’s transforming power among us...

Spend a few moments in honest prayer today. Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any area where appearance has become more important than reality. Confess what He reveals and invite Him to make you holy from the inside out.