The Lesson of James, Peter and John

The Lesson of James, Peter and John: The Thunder of God?

The story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 has long been used as a proof-text for a God who strikes down His own children in sudden judgment. The narrative says that after Ananias lied about his offering, he fell down dead, and later his wife Sapphira did the same. Fear gripped the whole church as a result.

But here’s the question: does this actually reflect the Spirit of God, or is it another example of human misunderstanding? Because if we accept this as prescriptive, then pastors today should stand in their pulpits and declare, “If you don’t give 100% of your offerings, God will strike you dead.” Not a single preacher has the boldness to say that. Why? Because deep down, they know it doesn’t align with the gospel of grace and the fruit of the Spirit.

Offerings Were Voluntary, Not Compulsory

Acts 4 shows that believers were selling property and bringing the proceeds to the apostles’ feet. But it says, “from time to time” (Acts 4:34–35). These were voluntary offerings, not tithes, not law, and certainly not commanded in full.

So are we really to believe the Spirit of God suddenly became a murderer because a couple held back part of their voluntary gift? Paul later makes it clear:

“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

The contrast is glaring. Cheerful giving, not fear of sudden death, is the hallmark of the Spirit’s work.

Fear Is Not the Fruit of the Spirit

What was the immediate fruit of this event? “Great fear seized the whole church” (Acts 5:11). Yet Paul tells us plainly what the fruit of the Spirit is:

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23).

Fear is not in the list. It is not evidence of the Spirit. In fact, Scripture tells us the opposite:

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment” (1 John 4:18).

If the outcome was fear, then the source was not the Spirit. To claim otherwise is to make the Spirit contradict His own Word.

Peter’s Role and His Track Record

It is worth remembering who pronounced judgment in Acts 5: Peter. But Peter’s track record shows us a man still wrestling with the flesh.

Forty days earlier, he denied Jesus three times (Luke 22:54–62).
He cut off Malchus’s ear in the garden (John 18:10).
In Galatians 2, Paul had to rebuke him to his face for hypocrisy.
In Acts 10, he struggled to accept God’s revelation about unclean things.

This is not a man whose every word should be assumed to carry the flawless authority of God. Peter often acted impulsively. So is it possible that in Acts 5 he misread the situation? Absolutely. Scripture faithfully records events, but it does not always sanitize human error.

The Shadow of James the Son of Thunder

Think of James, John’s older brother, nicknamed a “Son of Thunder” (Mark 3:17). In Luke 9:54, he wanted to call fire down from heaven to consume a Samaritan village. Jesus rebuked him:

“You do not know what kind of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” (Luke 9:55–56).

James carried that thunderous mentality, a God who kills to prove His holiness. And in Acts 12:2, James becomes the first apostle executed, struck down by Herod’s sword without deliverance. The very spirit he embraced came back upon him. It is not far-fetched to say James reaped the fruit of his own belief system.

Meanwhile, John, who once shared the thunder, was transformed by his brother’s death and by decades of facing persecution himself. He emerged proclaiming the deepest truth of all: “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Perfect love was forged in him as fear and death hovered near, and he wrote the words that stand forever as a correction to the thunder mentality.

Satan’s Setups

Acts 5 can also be seen as a setup. Satan could not stop the resurrection, but he could distort the perception of God in the early church. What better way than this:

Arrange sudden deaths at a vulnerable time.
Influence Peter to interpret them as God’s judgment.
Allow fear to grip the church.

And in the background, Satan whispers, “Got them. Now they’ll believe God is the killer. Now they’ll preach fear instead of love.”

The result? A narrative of fear that lined up perfectly with James’s thunder theology. But it was not the true Spirit of Christ.

Universal Reconciliation vs. Fear-Based Theology

Eternal Conscious Torment and Annihilationism thrive on the same thunder mentality. They preach a God who kills, burns, or discards His children if they don’t “get right.” But this is the same murderous father-image that Jesus rebuked in Luke 9.

Universal Reconciliation exposes how shameful such doctrines are. They enslave people to fear when Christ came to cast fear out. They twist the gospel into a threat when the gospel is good news of restoration. They make God look like Satan, the destroyer, instead of the Savior.

If Acts 5 teaches us anything, it is not that God kills His children but that the early church itself struggled with thunder theology. And just like James, Peter, and even John, we must grow beyond fear into love.

The Final Word

The Spirit does not kill over offerings. The Spirit does not strike down His own children. The Spirit does not grip the church with fear.

The Spirit births love. The Spirit leads into peace. The Spirit reveals the Father through Christ, who said:

“The Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” (Luke 9:56).

Any theology that makes God into the killer is “thunder”, not Spirit. And thunder cannot last. And we know who the so-called “God of Thunder” is! It’s not Yahweh, but Zeus, Satan (Rev 2:13), the destroyer who deceives men into confusing fear with holiness.