“Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”
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 to us but to God - Peter's reasoning is brilliant: the property was Ananias's (v. 4a), the sale price was his (v. 4b), but the lying transcends the human transaction entirely. In the Trinity-conscious thought-world of Luke, lying to the apostles about a spiritual gift is lying to God himself (cf. 5:3 and 5:4 used interchangeably). This establishes a functional identification: the apostolic witness mediates God's presence so completely that deception against them is deception against God.
Church Fathers on Acts 5:4
But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Acts 5:3 Observe even in this, a great miracle performed, greater far than the former. Whiles it remained, says he, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own power? Acts 5:4 That is,
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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