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| PentecostalTheology.com



In Acts 5:3-4, Peter says:
"Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God" (NKJV, emphasis mine).
Now obviously, their lying was "to men" in the sense that the apostles were men, and the lie was directed to them. However, since the apostles were inspired, it wasn’t ultimately "to men" but to a higher source. Therefore, "lying" in this context appears to reference the ultimate One the sin is against.
If lying "to the Holy Spirit" (v. 3) is equivalent to saying the lie is "not … to men but to God" (v. 4), would this make "the Holy Spirit" and "God" one and the same (i.e., the ultimate One the sin is against)? Since Peter says the ultimate source of the lying is "to the Holy Spirit" in verse 3 and "to God" in verse 4, does this mean he’s using the two terms interchangeably?
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