Boquete Bible Fellowship

THE NATURE & ORDER OF SALVATION

We believe that God Himself is the sole Author and decisive Factor in the salvation of men. It was planned by Him, it was purchased by Him, it is executed by Him, and it is secured by Him according to His own free and sovereign will, for His glory and the good of His people.

1.)  ELECTION / PREDESTINATION

SUPPORTING VERSES:  Ephesians 1:4, 11; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; John 15:16, 19; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; John 5:21, 10:27-29; 2 Timothy 1:9; Romans 8:29-30, 9:10-13, 18, 22-23, 11:5, 7, 29; Acts 13:48; Colossians 3:12; Galatians 1:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:9; Deuteronomy 7:6-7; Isaiah 65:1; John 17:24; Matthew 11:27; 1 Corinthians 1:27-30; Revelation 20:15, 21:27

2.)  REGENERATION

SUPPORTING VERSES:  John 3:3-6; 1 Peter 1:3; James 1:18; Ephesians 1:13; John 1:12-13; 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5; 2 Thessalonians 2:14; Titus 3:4-6; Ephesians 2:5; Colossians 1:13, 2:13; 2 Corinthians 5:17, 4:6; Romans 9:16; Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26-27, 37:14; Jeremiah 31:33; Deuteronomy 30:6; 1 Corinthians 1:9, 30; Acts 16:14; Galatians 2:20; 2 Peter 1:3-4

3.)  FAITH / BELIEF

SUPPORTING VERSES:  Ephesians 2:8; 1 John 5:1, 4, 3:36; John 6:37, 44, 65, 3:16, 18; Acts 13:48; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Philippians 1:29; Romans 10:9-13; Luke 8:10

4.)  JUSTIFICATION

SUPPORTING VERSES:  Romans 8:33, 30, 5:1, 9, 10:10, 3:24, 28; Genesis 15:6; Galatians 2:16; Titus 3:7; Philippians 3:9; Colossians 1:12

5.)  SANCTIFICATION

SUPPORTING VERSES:  1 Corinthians 15:10; Ezekiel 11:20, 36:27; Philippians 2:13; Romans 1:5; John 10:27, 15:4, 17:17; 2 Timothy 2:25; Acts 11:18; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Romans 8:13; Titus 3:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, 5:23; Colossians 1:22; 2 Peter 3:14; James 2:18; Hebrews 10:14, 12:14; Galatians 6:7-8; Lamentations 5:21; Jude 24-25

6.)  GLORIFICATION

NOTES:

• Steps 2-4 happen almost instantaneously.
• Scripture references are not intended to be exhaustive, but they are intended to be extensive.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES

1.) ELECTION / PREDESTINATION

SUPPORTING VERSES:

1. Ephesians 1:4 – He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.
2. Ephesians 1:11 – In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,
3. 1 Thessalonians 1:4 – For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you,
4. John 15:16 – You did not choose Me, but I chose you
5. John 15:19 –If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
6. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 – But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
7. John 5:21 – For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will.
8. John 10:27-29 – My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
9. 2 Timothy 1:9 – He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
10. Romans 8:29-30 – And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.
11. Romans 9:10-13 – And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, ¹¹ though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of Him who calls— ¹² she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
12. Romans 9:18 – So then He has mercy on whomever He wills, and He hardens whomever He wills.
13. Romans 9:22-23 – What if God, desiring to show His wrath and to make known His power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, ²³ in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory
14. Romans 11:5-7 – So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. ⁶ But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.⁷ What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened
15. Romans 11:29 – For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
16. Acts 13:48 – As many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
17. Colossians 3:12 – Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.
18. Galatians 1:15 – But when He who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by His grace,
19. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 – For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
20. Deuteronomy 7:6-7 – For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. ⁷ It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set His love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,
21. Isaiah 65:1 – I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. To a nation that did not call on My name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’
22. John 17:24 – Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am, to see My glory that You have given Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
23. Matthew 11:27 – No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.
24. 1 Corinthians 1:27-30 – But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹ so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰ And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
25. Revelation 20:15 – And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
26. Revelation 21:27 – But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

2.) REGENERATION

SUPPORTING VERSES:

1. John 3:3-6 – Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
2. 1 Peter 1:3 – According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again
3. James 1:18 – He chose to give us birth through the word of truth
4. Ephesians 1:13 – In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
5. John 1:12-13 – But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
6. 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 – For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you, ⁵ because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.
7. 2 Thessalonians 2:14 – He called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
8. Titus 3:4-6 – But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
9. Ephesians 2:5 – even when we were dead in our trespasses, He made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved
10. Colossians 1:13 – He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
11. Colossians 2:13 – And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
12. 2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
13. 2 Corinthians 4:6 – For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
14. Romans 9:16 – So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
15. Ezekiel 11:19 – And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,
16. Ezekiel 36:26-27 – And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes and be careful to obey My rules.
17. Ezekiel 37:14 –And I will put My Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.
18. Jeremiah 31:33 –For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put My law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
19. Deuteronomy 30:6 – And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
20. 1 Corinthians 1:9 – God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
21. 1 Corinthians 1:30 – And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
22. Acts 16:14 – The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.
23. Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
24. 2 Peter 1:3-4 – His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, ⁴ by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature

3.) FAITH / BELIEF

SUPPORTING VERSES:

1. Ephesians 2:8 – For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
2. 1 John 5:1 – Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him.
3. 1 John 5:4 – For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
4. John 3:36 – Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
5. John 6:37 – All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out.
6. John 6:44 – No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
7. John 6:65 – And He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
8. John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
9. John 3:18 – Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
10. Acts 13:48 – As many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
11. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 – But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
12. Philippians 1:29 – For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake,
13. Romans 10:9-13 –If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him. ¹³ For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14. Luke 8:10 – He said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’”

4.) JUSTIFICATION

SUPPORTING VERSES:

1. Romans 8:33 – Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
2. Romans 8:30 – And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.
3. Romans 5:1 – Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
4. Romans 5:9 – Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God.
5. Romans 10:10 – For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
6. Romans 3:24 –[believers] are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
7. Romans 3:28 – For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
8. Genesis 15:6 – And he believed the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness.
9. Galatians 2:16 – We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
10. Titus 3:7 – so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
11. Philippians 3:9 – and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith
12. Colossians 1:12 – giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

5.) SANCTIFICATION

SUPPORTING VERSES:

1. 1 Corinthians 15:10 – But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
2. Ezekiel 11:20 –that they may walk in My statutes and keep My rules and obey them. And they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
3. Ezekiel 36:27 – And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes and be careful to obey My rules.
4. Philippians 2:13 –for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
5. Romans 1:5 – through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of His name among all the nations,
6. John 10:27 – My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
7. John 15:4 – Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
8. John 17:17 – Sanctify them in the truth; Your Word is truth.
9. 2 Timothy 2:25 – God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,
10. Acts 11:18 – And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
11. 1 Peter 2:24 – He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.
12. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 – But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
13. Romans 8:13 – For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14. Titus 3:8 – I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.
15. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 – For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, ⁵ not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;
16. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 – Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
17. Colossians 1:22 – He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him,
18. 2 Peter 3:14 – Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish, and at peace.
19. James 2:18 – But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
20. Hebrews 10:14 – For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
21. Hebrews 12:14 – Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
22. Galatians 6:7-8 – Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. ⁸ For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
23. Lamentations 5:21 – Restore us to Yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored!
24. Jude 24-25 – Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, ²⁵ to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

6.) GLORIFICATION

SUPPORTING VERSES:

1. Philippians 1:6 – And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
2. Philippians 3:20-21 – But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself.
3. 1 John 3:2 – Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.
4. Romans 8:17 – if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.
5. Romans 8:23 – And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
6. Romans 8:30 – And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.
7. Romans 13:11 – Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.
8. 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 – So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
9. 1 Corinthians 15:51-55 – Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” ⁵⁵ “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
10. 1 Corinthians 1:7-8 – as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁸ who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
11. Matthew 13:43 – Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
12. Colossians 3:4 – When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
13. 1 Thessalonians 3:13 – so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.
14. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 – Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
15. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 – Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
16. 1 Peter 1:4-5 – to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
17. 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 – For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ² For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, ³ if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. ⁴ For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.