With the world and specifically America going down the broad way (Matthew 7:13), a Christian may believe they are on a remote island. Everybody around them is turning a blind eye to God’s Word (John 12:37-40). In 1 Kings 19 Elijah felt that way. After killing many of God’s prophets, Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah basically saying you are next. Elijah was afraid and ran to hide. He told “the word of the LORD” in 1 Kings 19:10 that “…I alone am left…”. What we find out is that Elijah was not alone. There were many more individuals still serving the Lord. In fact, there were 7,000 that would be left in Israel, 1 Kings 19:18.

Just like God took care of Israel (Isaiah 46:3-13), He will also take care of you. Matthew 6:25-34 tells us that our physical needs will be covered. God strengthens our spirit (Ephesians 3:16,20). He is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). Just because the world calls good evil and evil good (Isaiah 5:20), God will always be in control (Psalm 22:28). Seek Him and you will find Him (Matthew 7:7). We need to continue to spread the gospel (Mark 16:15-16). If the world refuses to hear, that’s not your problem (Matthew 10:14). Just know that there are others in the world that do not belong to it (John 15:19, John 17:16). Refuse to conform for that is His Will for us (Romans 12:2). God is with you where ever you go (Joshua 1:9). We are still here, and we are praying for you.

CHRIST DIED FOR US AND WANTS ALL TO BE SAVED
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
1 Timothy 2:3-4 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth

HEARING REQUIRED
Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
1 Timothy 4:16 Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.
1 Corinthians 15:1-2 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

BELIEVING REQUIRED
John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek

CONFESSION OF CHRIST REQUIRED
Matthew 10:32 32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
Acts 8:36-37 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Romans 10:9-10 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

REPENTANCE AND BAPTISM REQUIRED
Acts 17:30 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,
Luke 13:3 “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:21 `AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’
Acts 22:16 `Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’
Acts 18:8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized.
Mark 16:16 “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
1 Peter 3:20-21 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you–not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience–through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Romans 6:4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

SALVATION ACQUIRED BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH ACCORDING TO HIS MERCY BY THE WASHING OF REGENERATION AND RENEWING BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
Ephesians 2:5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
Titus 3:5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

ENDURANCE REQUIRED
Matthew 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.
Matthew 24:13 “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

This is just a tiny snippet of the scriptures that deal with salvation. Now there are many more scriptures on salvation, justification, sanctification, endurance etc., but this brief list should get you started in your study. I urge you to read it on your own and not listen to spin (false teaching), but instead ask “What does the Bible say?”

“For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'” (Galatians 5:14). I read a post from a friend on Facebook shared from another source. I deleted a comment I made, not to hide the comment, but to avoid the volley of insults that would inevitably negate the impact of the message. The post was to apparently teach me that loving my neighbor means ignoring or even to go so far as agreeing with sin because everybody sins (Romans 3:23). I would pose that this would be the exact opposite of love. Too many times we think about life on earth more than eternal judgement. We want everybody to be happy 100% of the tiny amount of time we have here on this earth. That’s a nice thought, but I’d rather be happy for an eternity and I would like to see both our names included with the few (Matthew 7:14; Matthew 22:14) in the Book of Life (Revelation 20:15). Therefore, if you see me sin then tell me to repent like Peter did for Simon (Acts 8:22). If you love me do not let me be in opposition to God (1 Timothy 5:20). I might be upset, but I will get over it. We should all repent and live our lives appropriately (Acts 26:20). When we are sorry we have sinned, repentance must follow. If we just remain sorry (maybe we are sorry we got caught) and don’t correct the problem then we are lost (2 Corinthians 7:10). So turn to the scriptures. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7). I want to go to heaven and I want you to be there too (Galatians 5:14). 1 John 5:2-3 says, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.”

Many Christians have trouble defending the faith. Yes I used the words “the faith” since the Bible references it that way (Acts 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:13; etc.). It is beneficial to study Christian Apologetics, a way to defend the faith against objections. The book that I’ve linked to the left is one that I have read recently. It is a very good book with many interesting points and arguments for the faith. The only problem I have, as with many religious books, is that the author throws his own spin on salvation instead of using God’s word to show someone how to be saved. He regurgitates man’s doctrine of salvation and doesn’t provide the whole of what the New Testament teaches. I will work up an article on salvation with just scripture and will link it here later for your reading.

Added 04/18/2014 as promised: Salvation According to the Bible

The answer in short is both.  A really good indicator for figurative passages would be if the book or passage starts with the speaker or author saying he saw something in a dream or a vision.  Some other examples would be when Jesus spoke in parables.  Obviously these scriptures use figurative language.  Some other passages are not so obvious, scriptures like John 13:3-17 where Jesus washes the apostles feet.  Which I have discussed in Foot Washing.  Another would be Mark 9:45-47 where we are directed to cut off body parts that would cause us to be condemned.  Are you supposed to poke your eye out?  Maybe, if that was the source of your problem.  Obviously your eye isn’t making you sin, so what is the lesson?  Remove those things from your life that will cause you to lose your soul.  It’s better to not have something in this world than to be lost for an eternity.  So is EVERYTHING literal?  Absolutely not, but does that make the whole Bible a patchwork of nice thoughts and mere guidebook to a righteous life or a history book with a bunch of spiritual principles that one can choose to ignore?  God gave us this information for a reason.  Are you interested in what He wanted to tell you? (2 Timothy 2:15; Matthew 6:33; 1 Timothy 4:15)

I was asked by a friend why we didn’t do foot washing.  Jesus told the apostles to do it (John 13:3-17).  That frazzled me, why don’t we wash feet?  To me, as a modern day man, it seems to be a useless practice, but if He told me I have to do it then bring me your feet.  So I studied the matter as it did concern me.  Is this passage literal or figurative?  Why doesn’t the church teach foot washing?  In all scriptures you must read the entire context.  You must rightly divide it (2 Timothy 2:15) or handle it correctly.  Rightly dividing or handling it correctly doesn’t mean interpret or put your own spin on it.  But sincerely studying that scripture to see what God is telling you.  Was Jesus telling us to wash feet?  Jesus explains his deed within the context of John 13.  Why did Jesus wash their feet?  Jesus asked the apostles, “Do you know what I have done to you?” (John 13:12)  He obviously wasn’t looking for an answer of <You washed our feet>.  They called Him Lord and Master, yet He took the role of a servant.  He performed one of the lowliest tasks that could be performed by a servant and yet He was the master.  So what lesson were the apostles to glean from His example?  The attitude of service.  Jesus instruction in John 13:15 was that you should do as I have done to you.  So whatever answer you gleaned from the question in John 13:12 is what we are expected to from John 13:14-15.  Is it the washing of feet that was the lesson?  I’ll let you answer that for yourself.

I was just wondering when quoting the Bible became a matter of opinion.  If I quote Albert Einstein, “Imagination is more important than knowledge”, is that now my opinion?  No sir, those are the words of Einstein.  If I tell lies, am I not a liar?  If I steal, am I not a thief?  In today’s world we pick and choose the scriptures we like and ignore the ones we do not. We search for a church that agrees with us and do not search the scriptures to see if the church we pick agrees with God.  If God has said it, then He meant it as Jesus demonstrated in John 12:47-50.  What He says I must do, because it is His words that will be my judge.  Our hearts have become hardened, our eyes are blind to the truth.  If we would only listen, understand with our hearts, do as He instructs us, and turn from our sins we would be healed (Matthew 13:14-15).  We must do all He has requested of us (Revelation 22:18-19) and not fall short or even go beyond His instructions.  We may not like what God tells us (Hebrews 4:12), but that doesn’t allow us to only accept what we want.  Having our sins pointed out is not a good experience.  It’s what Jesus did, and why He was so despised (John 15:21-24).  If 1 Corinthians 6 teaches us anything, it is that we can be saved no matter what evil we may have done (1 Corinthians 6:11), if we would only repent and be converted (Acts 2:36-38; Mark 16:16; Acts 22:14-16).  These scriptures are not my opinion, but they are the word of God.