Why should the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira not be applied to the church?
Their deaths belong to the Jerusalem assembly of Jewish believers who accepted Jesus as Messiah, not to the church, the body of Christ. At that time no salvation based on His shed blood was yet revealed. If that judgment were church ground, no believer would remain on earth.
Les explains that Acts 4–5 is not church ground or the body of Christ as the church. It is the Jerusalem assembly, primarily Jewish believers who believed Jesus was the Christ. There had been no mention yet of salvation based on His shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection; it was only on who He was, the promised Messiah. The selling of lands and laying proceeds at the apostles’ feet is not Church language; a pastor today could not ask a congregation to cash in all property without losing them by Monday. Ananias and Sapphira’s deaths fit that unique economy. If that were Church ground, there would not be a believer left on earth.