Rom 1:29-32 (NIV) They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

With people who are that evil, why doesn’t God just kill them? These people are like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for us. They offer you the “opportunity” to be as evil as you want. They are the choice of you either doing righteousness or doing evil. You must have a choice provided to you.

Rom 7:13 (NIV) Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. Sometimes people don’t agree with God as to what is sin and what isn’t. If they don’t trust God, they will embrace something that will eventually destroy them. It can be like a slow acting poison; but, if you read the label, you will know what you are dealing with.

The items in the grocery store are labelled. As long as you read the labels, you won’t buy or eat something poisonous that you thought was food. If you were lost in a dense, huge forest and were having to find plants that were edible, you could be in danger. If you had no experience with wild plants, you would have to use trial and error methods. Some nice looking plants out there only require one bite for it to kill you. But, if you found a book laying out there that identified edible plants, you would be SAVED. That is what God and His Bible are doing for you.

Mat 7:13-14 (NIV) Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. The problem you face is, most people are eating all the spiritual foods that aren’t good for them. When you watch TV, get on the internet, read the most popular books, watch the most popular movies, and listen to what the people around you are digesting, you could be easily fooled into thinking the Bible is wrong.

Prov 16:25 (NIV) There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Most people trust themselves; they don’t trust God; they don’t trust Jesus’ salvation; they don’t trust the Bible; they just trust what they think is best for them. So, the majority of the people in the world are trying to lead you down the wrong path. You can’t just “follow your heart.” You can’t just “believe in yourself.” You can’t just “flow with the traffic.” And, you can’t just “go with the crowd.”

Adam and Eve tried to figure out who they could trust and ended up making the biggest mistake of their life. Satan used his Five Step Temptation System on them and they fell. You are back to learning that it isn’t WHAT to trust; it is WHO to trust. John 15:13 (NIV) Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. Your body doesn’t want to die for you the spirit being. The people of the world don’t want to lay down their life for you. The devil isn’t going to die for you. Only Jesus did!

1 Pet 5:8-9 (NIV) Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. In conventional warfare, the soldiers wear uniforms identifying who they are fighting for. In terrorist warfare, they will use women and children to fight. That is the situation you are in; who should you resist and who should you trust. There has to be a way to identify you friends and your enemies.

Mat 7:15-16 (NIV) Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? This is explaining that you can’t tell by people’s external appearances, clothing, or friendly behavior. They may be family members, church members, business associates, friends, or a spouse. If you trust the wrong person, you can find yourself doing things you shouldn’t.

By their fruit you will recognize them: Trust has to be earned; you can’t just go around believing in everyone. 2 Tim 3:1-5 (NIV) But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. If you see people with any of these kinds of “fruit” being produced in their lives, stay away.