Acts 5:3

Acts 5:3. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? It was in the solemn assembly of the believers for prayer and counsel, Peter and the twelve no doubt sitting on their raised chairs (see note on chap. Acts 4:35), when Ananias presented his rich offering. We are not directly told how Peter obtained his information respecting the fraud; still, we can have no doubt of the source: it was no earthly presence which guided and executed the dread judgment of that court.

In Peter's question to Ananias, ‘Why hath Satan filled thine heart?' two points claim a special comment: (1) The foremost of the Twelve, who had learned his doctrine from the life of Jesus, distinctly here acknowledges his belief in the existence and personality of the spirit of evil, Satan; (2) By his Question, ‘Why,' etc., he evidently recognises man's free will, his power to resist if he choose, the promptings of the evil one.