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1. Are You Catholic or Protestant?

How clear is your understanding of Protestant theology?1 Test yourself and see. Evaluate each of the following ten paired statements and mark the one that you think best states a Protestant doctrinal position.

(1a) God gives a man right standing with Himself by mercifully accounting him innocent and virtuous.

(1b) God gives a man right standing with Himself by actually making him into an innocent and virtuous person.

(2a) God gives a man right standing with Himself by placing Christ’s goodness and virtue to his credit.

(2b) God gives a man right standing with Himself by putting Christ’s goodness and virtue into his heart.

(3a) God accepts the believer because of the moral excellence found in Jesus Christ.

(3b) God makes the believer acceptable by infusing Christ’s moral excellence into his life.

(4a) If a sinner becomes “born-again” (the regenerating, transforming process of character), he will achieve right standing with God.

(4b) If the sinner is granted right standing with God through faith (“born-again”), he will then experience transformation of character.

(5a) We receive right standing with God by faith alone.

(5b) We receive right standing with God by faith which has become active by love.

(6a) We achieve right standing with God by having Christ live out His life of obedience in us.

(6b) We achieve right standing with God by accepting the fact that He obeyed the law perfectly for us.

(7a) We achieve right standing with God by following Christ’s example by the help of His enabling grace.

(7b) We follow Christ’s example because His life has given us right standing with God.

(8a) God first pronounces that we are good in His sight, then gives us His Spirit to make us good.

(8b) God sends His Spirit to make us good, and then He will pronounce that we are good.

(9a) Christ’s finished work on the cross and intercession at God’s right hand gives us favor in the sight of God.

(9b) It is the indwelling Christ that gives us favor in God’s sight.

(10a) Only by the imputation of Christ’s righteousness through faith can we fully satisfy the claims of the Ten Commandments.

(10b) By the power of the Holy Spirit living in us, we can fully satisfy the claims of the Ten Commandments.

Correct Responses:

  • Protestant: 1a, 2a, 3a, 4b, 5a, 6b, 7b, 8a, 9a, 10a.
  • Roman Catholic: 1b, 2b, 3b, 4a, 5b, 6a, 7a, 8b, 9b, 10b.

1 This test was prepared by Dr. J. Ronald Blue for use in conjunction with his course on Roman Catholicism at Dallas Theological Seminary.

Related Topics: Reformation, Catholicism

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