Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents

By Rod Dreher / Sentinel

Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn once noted that people often assume that their democratic government would never submit to totalitarianism---but Dreher says it's happening. Sounding the alarm about the insidious effects of identity politics, surveillance technology, psychological manipulation, and more, he equips contemporary Christian dissidents to see, judge, and act as they fight to resist the erosion of our freedoms. 304 pages, hardcover from Sentinel.

Design: Steve Webb | Photo: Billy Clouse on Unsplash

Thoughts

Wow, so what's the deal with Ananias and Sapphira? You know how people always say that the God of the Old Testament is an angry, unforgiving God? And the New Testament is all about grace? So what's up with this story?

The folks who only want to see the grace of God miss a very important characteristic of who He is. He is a God of holiness and righteousness. Here in Acts, we are looking at the first days of the New Testament church. You might think of it as an infant taking its first breaths. 

And here in these first few moments of its life, there were those who were willing to lie to God. The issue was not the money that Ananias and Sapphira gave or did not give. As Peter said, the land and the money they got for selling the land was theirs. It was their right to do with it what they wanted. But they lied when they said that they gave the entire proceeds of the sale, when in fact they held some back. And it wasn't Peter they lied to, it was the Holy Spirit. It was God. And that is where God draws the line. And He had to establish in those first moments of the infant church's life, that lying to God is a serious offense.

Another aspect of this story is that the Holy Spirit is once again established as a person, not just some ethereal force. You can't lie to an idea. You can only lie to a person. So again we have proof of the Trinity, and that the Holy Spirit is equal with God the Father and God the Son. 

In chapter five, after the apostles had been locked up for preaching about Jesus, and after the angel of the Lord had released them during the night and had told them, "Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life”, they went right back to the temple to again teach (or preach) to the people.

The high priest had them brought back to stand once more before the Council and he said, "We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man's blood upon us."

Now, does this sound at all familiar to you? Doesn’t this go on today? Aren’t we told not to speak the name of Jesus? Christians are one of the only groups today that are discriminated against, and it’s perfectly fine with most of the world.

What Peter and the other apostles said to the high priest and the Council should be an encouragement to us. They said, "We must obey God rather than men. 30The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. 31He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.