5 Bible Verses about Spiritual Allegories

In truth I tell you, whoever does not go into the sheepfold through the door, but climbs up at some other place, that man is a thief and a robber; But the man who goes in through the door is shepherd to the sheep. For him the watchman opens the door; and the sheep listen to his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.read more.
When he has brought them all out, he walks in front of them, and his sheep follow him, because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but will run away from him; because they do not know a stranger's voice." This was the allegory that Jesus told them, but they did not understand of what he was speaking. So he continued: "In truth I tell you, I am the Door for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the Door; he who goes in through me will be safe, and he will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal, to kill, and to destroy; I have come that they may have Life, and may have it in greater fullness. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. The hired man who is not a shepherd, and who does not own the sheep, when he sees a wolf coming, leaves them and runs away; then the wolf seizes them, and scatters the flock. He does this because he is only a hired man and does not care about the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd; and I know my sheep, and my sheep know me-- Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep besides, which do not belong to this fold; I must lead them also, and they will listen to my voice; and they shall become one flock under 'one Shepherd.'

Tell me, you who want to be still subject to Law--Why do not you listen to the Law? Scripture says that Abraham had two sons, one the child of the slave-woman and the other the child of the free woman. But the child of the slave-woman was born in the course of nature, while the child of the free woman was born in fulfillment of a promise.read more.
This story may be taken as an allegory. The women stand for two Covenants. One Covenant, given from Mount Sinai, produces a race of slaves and is represented by Hagar (The word Hagar meaning in Arabia Mount Sinai) and it ranks with the Jerusalem of to-day, for she and her children are in slavery. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she it is who is our mother. For Scripture says--'Rejoice, thou barren one, who dost never bear, Break into shouts, thou who art never in labor, For many are the children of her who is desolate--aye, more than of her who has a husband.' As for ourselves, brothers, we, like Isaac, are children born in fulfillment of a promise. Yet at that time the child born in the course of nature persecuted the child born by the power of the Spirit; and it is the same now. But what does the passage of Scripture say? 'Send away the slave-woman and her son; for the slave's son shall not be co-heir with the son of the free woman.' And so, Brothers, we are not children of a slave, but of her who is free.

For, if their being cast aside has meant the reconciliation of the world, what will their reception mean, but Life from the dead? If the first handful of dough in holy, so is the whole mass; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. Some, however, of the branches were broken off, and you, who were only a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and came to share with them the root which is the source of the richness of the cultivated olive.read more.
Yet do not exult over the other branches. But, if you do exult over them, remember that you do not support the root, but that the root supports you. But branches, you will say, were broken off, so that I might be grafted in. True; it was because of their want of faith that they were broken off, and it is because of your faith that you are standing. Do not think too highly of yourself, but beware. For, if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. See, then, both the goodness and the severity of God--his severity towards those who fell, and his goodness towards you, provided that you continue to confide in that goodness; otherwise you, also, will be cut off. And they, too, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God has it in his power to graft them in again. If you were cut off from your natural stock--a wild olive-- and were grafted, contrary to the course of nature, upon a good olive, much more will they--the natural branches--be grafted back into their parent tree.

Wives should submit to their husbands as submitting to the Lord. For a man is the Head of his wife, as the Christ is the Head of the Church--being indeed himself the Savior of his Body. But as the Church submits to the Christ, so also should wives submit to their husbands in everything.read more.
Husbands, love your wives, just as the Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for her, To make her holy, after purifying her by the Washing with the Water, according to his promise; So that he might himself bring the Church, in all her beauty, into his own presence, with no spot or wrinkle or blemish of any kind, but that she might be holy and faultless. That is how husbands ought to love their wives--as if they were their own bodies. A man who loves his wife is really loving himself; For no one ever yet hated his own body. But every one feeds his body and cares for it, just as the Christ for the Church; For we are members of his Body. 'For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and be united to his wife; and the man and his wife shall become one.' In this there is a profound truth--I am speaking of Christ and his Church. However, for you individually, let each love his wife as if she were himself; and the wife be careful to respect her husband.

Put on the full armor of God, so that you may be able to stand your ground against the stratagems of the Devil. For ours is no struggle against enemies of flesh and blood, but against all the various Powers of Evil that hold sway in the Darkness around us, against the Spirits of Wickedness on high. Therefore take up the full armor of God, that, when the evil day comes, you may be able to withstand the attack, and, having fought to the end, still to stand your ground.read more.
Stand your ground, then, 'with truth for your belt,' and 'with righteousness for your breast-plate,' And with the readiness to serve the Good News of Peace as shoes for your feet. At every onslaught take up faith for your shield; for with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming darts of the Evil One. And receive 'the helmet of Salvation,' and 'the sword of the Spirit'--which is the Message of God--always with prayer and supplication.