Questions and answers
Hard Doctrine — Christian Living
In 1 Peter 3, what reason does Peter give for husbands to live with their wives in an understanding way?
- ASo that their prayers may not be hinderedCorrect
- BSo that their households may prosper
- CSo that outsiders may speak well of the church
- DSo that their children may be secured in the faith
Answer: So that their prayers may not be hindered
1 Peter 3:7 · ESV
Peter attaches a consequence to the manner of a husband's life that reaches into his relationship with God, which is a striking thing to say. He grounds the charge in the wife being a fellow heir of the grace of life, so the honour owed her rests on her standing before God rather than on anything else.
1 Peter 3:1-7.
Why not this one. Peter does argue that way elsewhere in the letter, urging honourable conduct so that the Gentiles may glorify God. But the reason attached to this particular charge is about the husband's own prayers.
Medium Doctrine — Salvation
Reformed theology calls faith the instrumental cause of justification. What then is its meritorious ground?
- AThe obedience and death of Christ, credited to the believerCorrect
- BThe believer's faith itself, accepted by God in place of righteousness
- CThe believer's love, which perfects his faith and makes it justify
- DThe believer's baptism, which applies Christ's merit to him
Answer: The obedience and death of Christ, credited to the believer
Romans 3:24-25 · ESV
Faith is the empty hand that receives, not the payment that purchases. The ground is Christ's righteous life and penal death, which is why justification is secure: it rests on a finished work outside the believer rather than on the strength of his believing. Faith justifies by what it lays hold of, never by what it is in itself.
Romans 3:24-25 and Philippians 3:9, a righteousness from God that depends on faith.
Why not this one. This treats the act of believing as the righteousness God rewards, making faith a work; Scripture counts Christ's righteousness to those who believe.
Hard Miracles of the Bible
Which detail belongs to Matthew's account of Jesus walking on the sea and to no other Gospel?
- AA disciple walks on the water toward Jesus and begins to sinkCorrect
- BThe boat is immediately at the land they were heading for
- CThe disciples did not understand about the loaves, for their hearts were hardened
- DJesus meant to pass by them on the sea
Answer: A disciple walks on the water toward Jesus and begins to sink
Matthew 14:28-31 · ESV
All three of the other details are genuine, but each belongs to a different account: only Matthew reports Peter leaving the boat, walking toward Jesus, sinking in fear, and being caught by the hand. The addition serves Matthew's interest in the disciples' small but real faith. Mark and John both report the walking on the sea, so the difference is one of inclusion rather than contradiction.
Matthew 14:28-31 records the episode absent from Mark 6 and John 6.
Why not this one. That line is Mark's, in Mark 6:48, and it echoes the way God passes by his servants at Sinai and Horeb; Matthew does not include it.
Medium New Testament — Acts of the Apostles
What was the stated reason for appointing the seven men in Acts 6, which freed the apostles to continue in prayer and the ministry of the word?
- ATo lead worship in the temple courts each morning
- BTo serve tables and oversee the daily distribution to widowsCorrect
- CTo guard the apostles from the Sanhedrin
- DTo teach in the synagogues throughout Judea
Answer: To serve tables and oversee the daily distribution to widows
Acts 6:1–3 · ESV
The Hellenist widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution, and the Twelve said it was not right for them to give up preaching in order to serve tables. So the congregation picked seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, and the apostles appointed them over this business. Luke's point is division of labor rather than a demotion of the work: the word of God kept increasing, and even many priests became obedient to the faith.
Acts 6:1-7
Why not this one. Two of the seven, Stephen and Philip, do end up preaching powerfully, which makes this look right. But that was not the stated reason for the appointment, and the whole point of it was to free the apostles for the ministry of the word.
Hard New Testament — Paul’s Letters
In Romans 9:20–21, Paul uses the image of a potter and clay to defend what doctrine against the objection that God is unjust?
- AGod’s sovereign right to show mercy or harden whomever He wills.Correct
- BGod’s fairness in judging people according to their own choices.
- CGod’s use of human free will as the instrument of predestination.
- DGod’s foreknowledge of faith as the basis for election.
Answer: God’s sovereign right to show mercy or harden whomever He wills.
Romans 9:20–21 · ESV
The potter image answers a particular objection, which Paul has just quoted in verse 19: if God hardens whom he wills, why does he still find fault. His reply does not soften the premise but challenges the standing of the questioner, then grants the potter the right to make from one lump vessels for honorable and dishonorable use.
Romans 9:18–21, with Jeremiah 18:1–6 and Isaiah 29:16.
Why not this one. Fairness is the instinct behind the objection Paul is answering, and defending it would be the expected move. But if that were his answer, the question in verse 19 would never have arisen; the clay has no say in what it is made for, and Paul appeals to the potter's right rather than to the clay's record.
Medium New Testament — The Gospels
In the Parable of the Lost Sheep, Jesus says that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over how many righteous persons who need no repentance?
- ASeventy
- BA hundred
- CNinety-nineCorrect
- DFifty
Answer: Ninety-nine
Luke 15:7 · ESV
The shepherd leaves the ninety-nine in the open country and goes after the one until he finds it, then carries it home on his shoulders and calls the neighbors together. The comparison is aimed at the grumbling of Luke 15:2, and the phrase about persons who need no repentance is pointed at men who thought that described them. Matthew 18:12–14 tells the same story to a different end, about not despising one little one who strays.
Luke 15:1–7; compare Matthew 18:12–14.
Why not this one. A hundred is the size of the flock at the start, which is why the number is on the tip of the tongue. Once one has wandered off, the ones left behind number ninety-nine, and that is the figure the joy is measured against.
Hard Doctrine — Christian Living
In Galatians 6:1, those who are spiritual are to restore one caught in a transgression in a spirit of which quality, itself one of the nine named as the fruit of the Spirit?
- AGentlenessCorrect
- BKindness
- CPatience
- DSelf-control
Answer: Gentleness
Galatians 6:1 · ESV
Paul carries one item from the list of nine straight into a case of correction in the church, and adds a warning to the restorer to watch himself lest he also be tempted. Gentleness translates the word rendered meekness in older versions, and here it describes the manner in which the restoring is to be done.
Galatians 6:1, drawing on the list of nine given in 5:22–23.
Why not this one. Patience is one of the nine, but it is not the quality Paul names in 6:1, where he specifies the spirit in which a transgressor is to be restored.
Medium Doctrine — Salvation
What two things does the atonement accomplish together in reconciliation — what are sinners reconciled from and to?
- AReconciled from ignorance of God to knowledge of God through the law
- BReconciled from unbelief to church membership through baptism
- CReconciled from death to eternal life through personal merit
- DReconciled from enmity against God to friendship and peace with God through ChristCorrect
Answer: Reconciled from enmity against God to friendship and peace with God through Christ
Romans 5:10 · ESV
Reconciliation assumes a real quarrel, and Paul is blunt about which side held it. Sinners were enemies of God, and the hostility was not merely theirs but was answered by his righteous anger. The change of relationship is accomplished by the death of Christ, and Paul says believers now receive the reconciliation as a gift rather than negotiating their way into it.
Romans 5:10-11; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Colossians 1:21-22
Why not this one. The first half is true enough that the whole line can slip past, since the reconciled really do pass from death to life. But the ending gives it away: merit is the one thing an enemy of God has none of, and Paul makes Christ's death the entire basis.
Medium Miracles of the Bible
In which coastal city did Peter raise Tabitha from the dead?
- AJoppaCorrect
- BLydda
- CCaesarea
- DAntioch
Answer: Joppa
Acts 9:36-42 · ESV
Tabitha, a disciple full of good works, died at Joppa; Peter was sent for, put the mourners outside, prayed, and told her to arise. The report spread through the whole town, and many believed in the Lord. Luke gives both her Aramaic name and its Greek equivalent, and notes the widows who showed Peter the garments she had made.
Acts 9:36-42 names the city and records the raising.
Why not this one. Lydda is where Peter had just healed the paralyzed Aeneas, and it is where the disciples sent for him from; the raising itself took place in Joppa.
Medium New Testament — Acts of the Apostles
How many persons does Luke say were aboard the ship that carried Paul through the storm toward Rome?
- ATwo hundred seventy-sixCorrect
- BOne hundred forty
- CNinety-six
- DThree hundred twelve
Answer: Two hundred seventy-six
Acts 27:37 · ESV
Luke gives the exact count at the point where the crew and passengers finally took food after a long fast, and then lightened the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea. Every one of them reached land alive, just as Paul had promised on the strength of the angel's word to him.
Acts 27:37 gives the number; verses 22-25 and 44 record the promise and its fulfilment.
Why not this one. No such figure appears anywhere in the account. The size of the ship's company is part of the point: a grain vessel carrying that many explains why a shipwreck with no loss of life was so remarkable.
Hard New Testament — Paul’s Letters
According to 1 Timothy 1:3, where had Paul urged Timothy to remain, and for what reason?
- AAt Ephesus, to charge certain persons not to teach a different doctrineCorrect
- BAt Corinth, to settle the quarrel over spiritual gifts in the assembly
- CAt Troas, to recover the cloak and the parchments Paul had left there
- DAt Antioch, to carry the decision of the Jerusalem council to the churches
Answer: At Ephesus, to charge certain persons not to teach a different doctrine
1 Timothy 1:3 · ESV
Timothy was posted at Ephesus as Paul went on to Macedonia, and the errand was doctrinal: to stop teachers occupied with myths and endless genealogies that promote speculation rather than the stewardship of God. The letter’s instructions on prayer, office and church order all flow from that charge.
1 Timothy 1:3–7, the stated occasion of the letter.
Why not this one. Paul handled the Corinthian disorder himself by letter, in 1 Corinthians 12–14. Timothy’s stated commission in this epistle concerns false teaching at Ephesus, not gifts at Corinth.
Medium New Testament — The Gospels
What is the shortest verse in the ESV Bible?
- A“Jesus wept.”Correct
- B“Rejoice always.”
- C“Pray without ceasing.”
- D“Give thanks.”
Answer: “Jesus wept.”
John 11:35 · ESV
Two words in English, and the setting is what gives them their weight. Jesus stands outside the tomb of a friend he already intends to raise, and he weeps anyway. John says he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled, and the bystanders read the tears as love. Grief and power are not alternatives here.
John 11:33–38
Why not this one. 1 Thessalonians 5:16 is also two words in the ESV and is the usual runner-up. Counted by characters the line at Lazarus' tomb is shorter still, and which verse wins the title varies from one translation to another.
Hard Doctrine — Christian Living
The 1689 London Baptist Confession teaches that the moral law forever binds whom?
- AAll people, justified persons as well as othersCorrect
- BOnly those living under the Mosaic covenant
- COnly the unregenerate, believers being free from it
- DOnly those who take it upon themselves by vow
Answer: All people, justified persons as well as others
1689 London Baptist Confession, 19.5 · ESV
The confession grounds the binding force of the moral law in the authority of God who gave it, so justification exempts no one from it. The paragraph that follows adds that believers are not under it as a covenant of works, which distinguishes rule of life from ground of standing.
1689 London Baptist Confession, 19.5, with 19.6.
Why not this one. That is the antinomian reading the confession is written against. It holds that the law is no means of justification for believers while remaining their rule of obedience.
Hard Doctrine — Salvation
In Romans 6:3–4, Paul grounds the believer's death to sin and walk in newness of life in which act?
- AThe Lord's Supper as a repeated sacrifice
- BThe ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in sanctification
- CPersonal repentance and confession of sin
- DBaptism into Christ's death and resurrectionCorrect
Answer: Baptism into Christ's death and resurrection
Romans 6:3–4 · ESV
Paul is answering the charge that grace encourages sin, and he answers by pointing back to what baptism signifies. Believers were baptized into Christ's death, buried with him, and raised to walk in newness of life, so continuing in sin contradicts the very thing they confessed. The water does not itself accomplish the union; immersion pictures it, which is one reason Baptists hold that the mode and the meaning belong together.
Romans 6:3-5; Colossians 2:12
Why not this one. The Spirit is certainly the one who makes that new walk real, and Romans 8 will say so at length. But in these particular verses Paul reasons from the believer's baptism into Christ's death, appealing to that decisive past event.
Hard Miracles of the Bible
Whom did Peter heal at Lydda, a man bedridden and paralyzed for eight years?
- AAeneasCorrect
- BTrophimus
- CEutychus
- DOnesiphorus
Answer: Aeneas
Acts 9:33-35 · ESV
Peter told him that Jesus Christ was healing him and that he should rise and make his bed, and he rose immediately. Those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord, so the healing served the spread of the gospel along the coastal plain. Peter had been traveling among the churches when he came down to the saints living there.
Acts 9:33-35 names the man and reports the response of the region.
Why not this one. Trophimus was a companion of Paul who was left ill at Miletus, an illness Paul did not heal; he has no connection with Peter at Lydda.
Medium New Testament — Acts of the Apostles
Which prophet was the Ethiopian eunuch reading in his chariot when Philip ran up to him?
- AIsaiahCorrect
- BJoel
- CAmos
- DDaniel
Answer: Isaiah
Acts 8:28-33 · ESV
The eunuch was reading aloud the passage about a sheep led to the slaughter and a lamb silent before its shearer, and he asked whether the prophet spoke of himself or of someone else. Beginning with that very Scripture, Philip told him the good news about Jesus.
Acts 8:28-35, where the quoted passage is Isaiah 53:7-8.
Why not this one. Joel is the prophet Peter cites at Pentecost for the outpouring of the Spirit, and Amos is the one James cites at the Jerusalem Council, so both are quoted in Acts. The suffering servant text in the chariot comes from Isaiah.