John Calvin Commentary Acts 5:11

"And great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all that heard these things." — Acts 5:11 (ASV)

And there came fear. He says, again, that the punishment of one was a lesson to all. But he plainly expresses in this place a double fear. He says that the Church feared, because the faithful never fear God so perfectly that they do not profit even more, being admonished by His judgments.

Therefore, by all those punishments which we read have been laid upon men in times past, and which we daily see laid upon them, God calls us back from the enticements and the license for sinning. For our flesh must be bridled every now and then in this manner, because one bridle will scarcely suffice.

There was another kind of fear in the strangers, yet not a fear that brought them to the sincere worship of God; yet, notwithstanding, it was such that it caused them to give glory to God.