The Book of Acts was written to provide a history of the early church. Acts emphasis the importance of the day of Pentecost and being empowered to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ. Acts sheds light on the ministry gift of the Holy Spirit, which empowers, guides, teaches, and serves as our Counselor.  When reading the Book of Acts many of the readers will be enlightened and encouraged by the many miracles that were being performed during this time by the disciples Peter, John, and Paul.  The Book of Acts emphasizes the importance of obedience to God's Word and the transformation that occurs as a result of knowing Christ.  There are also many references to those that rejected the truth that the disciples preached about in Jesus Christ. Power, greed, and many other vices of the devil are evidenced in the book of Acts. Acts 1:8 serves as a good summary of the Book of Acts. Acts records the apostles being Christ's witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the rest of the surrounding world.

The book of Acts has a total of twenty-eight chapters and it's primary purpose was to give the history of the Christian church and thereby to equip the church to reach people for Christ. Many faithful servants carried out the work of God in the earth.  Although many faithful servants were used to preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Saul, whose name was changed to Paul, was the most influential. Before he was converted, Paul took great pleasure in persecuting and killing Christians.  After his conversion he went to the ultimate extreme of loving God and preaching his word with power, fervency and the Spirit of the true and living God. In this book the main emphasis was in Acts 1:8, when the disciples were told by Jesus to wait until they had been empowered by the Holy Spirit from on high to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Acts chapters 1-7 record the apostles being Christ's witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea.  Acts chapter 8 records the apostles being Christ's witnesses in Samaria. Acts chapters 9-28 record the apostles being Christ's witnesses "to the ends of the earth."

God can do amazing things through ordinary people. God essentially took a group of fisherman and turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). God took a Christian-hating murderer and changed him into the greatest Christian evangelist, the author of almost half the books of the New Testament. God used persecution to cause the quickest expansion of a "new faith" in the history of the world. God can and will do the same through us if we fully submit ourselves to Him.

The main theme of this letter is obvious of course.it is Righteousness. Guided by the Holy Spirit Paul first condemns all men of their sinfulness. He expresses his desire to preach the truth of God's Word to those in Rome. It was his hope to have assurance that they were staying on the right path.  He strongly points out that he is not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is what every one need to direct them to Salvation.

Paul points out again that God did not demand that men have their lives straightened out before coming to Christ.  Because, it is a fact that while we were still sinners He, Christ died on a cross for our sins.  When we turn our lives over to Jesus Christ, we are no longer controlled by our sin nature, but the Spirit controls us.  If we make confession that Jesus is Lord, and believe that He is raised from the dead, we are saved, born - again.  We need to live our lives offered to God as a living sacrifice to Him. Because, that should be our highest desire to worship Him so.  We cannot please Him by living according to this world and its pleasures.  We need to keep our eyes on Jesus at all times.

Never seek to take revenge on anyone because it is God's place to repay, and we need to leave it Him.  We need to feed the hungry and quench their thirst. Nothing is ever accomplished if we are overcome by evil, but evil, we need to overcome evil with good.  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, as you trust in Him, so that you m ay overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Does a person need to clean up their lives before coming to the Lord and accepting salvation?