Acts 5:5

And Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost: and great fear came upon all that heard it.

This sudden physical death of Ananias and his wife (a little later) has been taken by some to imply also their loss eternally; and, while not pretending to know if this is true or not, this writer inclines toward the possibility suggested by Bruce:

It may have been an act of mercy as well, if we think of the incident in the light of Paul's words about another offender against the Christian community: "Deliver such a one unto the destruction of the flesh, that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (1 Corinthians 5:5).[15]

Those who view this act of divine judgment against this couple as some kind of vindictive and spiteful punishment inflicted by the apostle Peter are totally wrong. It was not Peter, but God, who executed this extreme penalty; and the contrast of it with the longsuffering and forbearance of the Father concerning the sins of the whole race leads to the conclusion that there were the most weighty reasons for what God did here.

Great fear came upon all ... Many no doubt had been tempted like Ananias and Sapphira to pretend a holiness they did not possess; and this sudden judgment led to the widespread conclusion among them to the effect that "There but for the grace of God am I." This divine act, therefore, had the consequence of impressing upon the young church the awful reprobacy of sin, and of warning non-Christians of the danger of associating themselves with the new and popular movement for purely selfish motives. This great fear upon both Christians and outsiders was "precisely the effect desired."[16]

[15] Ibid., p. 114.

[16] J. W. McGarvey, op. cit., p. 85.