Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 5:4

"While it remained, did it not remain thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thy power? How is it that thou hast conceived this thing in thy heart? thou has not lied unto men, but unto God." — Acts 5:4 (ASV)

Whiles it remained . . .—Fresh circumstances are driven home, depriving the act of every possible excuse. Ananias had not been bound by any rule of the Church to make such a gift. At every stage, he was free to act as he thought best; and had he brought part as part, or even brought nothing, he would have been free from any special blame. As it was, the attempt to obtain the reputation of saintliness without the reality of sacrifice involved him in the guilt of both sacrilege, though there had been no formal consecration, and of perjury, though there had been no formulated oath.

Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.—The parallelism between this statement and “lying to the Holy Ghost” in Acts 5:3 has often been used, and perfectly legitimately, as proof that while the Apostles thought of the Spirit as sent by the Father, and therefore distinct in His personality, they yet did not shrink from speaking of Him as God, and so identifying Him with the Divine Essential Being.