Grace Answers · Study
The Periodic Table of Grace
Thirty-nine elements of the gospel in six families, all resting on Fw · Finished Work. Tap any two to see what they teach together.
The table
Tap two elements to combine them. Tap one again to remove it. written teaching with your first pick unstable if combined the wrong way Fw Finished Work is the center; every element rests on it
Guided paths
Not sure where to start? Each path walks through the table one connection at a time.
Unstable compounds
Some elements hold together one way and break the other. These are the combinations most often mixed up in church, with the phrase you may have heard.
The elements
All 39 elements at a glance
Each element in plain words, with the passages behind it. Every one of them rests on the finished work of Christ.
1 · Promise and fulfillment
- PmPromise
- Before there was a law, there was a promise. God bound himself to bless all nations through Abraham's Seed, and that Seed is Christ.Genesis 12:3; Galatians 3:16-18; 2 Corinthians 1:20
- ShShadow
- The sacrifices, feasts, priesthood and tabernacle were outlines cast ahead of the real thing. The substance is Christ.Colossians 2:16-17; Hebrews 8:5; Hebrews 10:1
- LwLaw
- The law is holy, and it was given to expose sin and guard Israel until Christ came. It could reveal righteousness but never give it.Romans 3:20; Galatians 3:19-25; Romans 10:4
- FlFulfillment
- Jesus did not abolish the Law and the Prophets. He fulfilled them. The whole Old Testament testifies of him.Matthew 5:17; Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:39
- NcNew Covenant
- A better covenant on better promises. God writes his law on hearts, is our God, and remembers our sins no more.Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:6-13; Luke 22:20
2 · What Christ did
- CrCross
- Where Jesus bore our sins in his body, became a curse for us, and made peace by his blood.1 Peter 2:24; Galatians 3:13; Colossians 1:20
- FwFinished Work
- "It is finished." By one offering Christ perfected forever those being sanctified, and then he sat down. Every other element on this table rests here.John 19:30; Hebrews 10:12-14; Hebrews 1:3
- RdRedemption
- Bought back and set free. Not with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, who obtained eternal redemption.Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19; Hebrews 9:12
- RcReconciliation
- God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them. The peace was God's move.2 Corinthians 5:18-21; Romans 5:10-11; Colossians 1:21-22
- ViVictory
- Christ disarmed principalities and powers and destroyed the one who had the power of death. Believers stand in a battle already won.Colossians 2:15; Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 Corinthians 15:57
- RsResurrection
- Jesus was raised bodily on the third day. He was delivered up because of our offenses and raised because of our justification, and his resurrection is the firstfruits of ours.1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 4:25; 1 Corinthians 15:20
- HpHigh Priest
- Jesus is a priest who sympathizes with our weakness, entered the true Holy Place with his own blood, and always lives to make intercession.Hebrews 4:14-16; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 9:11-12
3 · What we receive
- GrGrace
- God's unearned favor, given in Christ. In the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith: a gift received by faith from start to finish. Grace saves, and it also teaches us how to live.Romans 1:16-17; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 2:11-12
- FaFaith
- Faith is trust in Christ. It is not a force or a tool that makes things happen. It receives what grace gives.Romans 4:5; Romans 4:16; Romans 10:17
- RiRighteousness
- A gift by faith from start to finish. Christ, who knew no sin, was made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 5:17; Philippians 3:9
- FgForgiveness
- Complete. All trespasses forgiven, the handwriting of requirements that was against us wiped out and nailed to the cross, sins remembered no more.Colossians 2:13-14; Hebrews 10:17-18; Ephesians 1:7
- CcClean Conscience
- The blood of Christ cleanses the conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Believers draw near with hearts sprinkled clean.Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 10:2; Hebrews 10:22
- AcAccess
- Through Christ we have bold access to the Father by one Spirit. The veil is torn and the throne is a throne of grace.Ephesians 2:18; Hebrews 10:19-22; Romans 5:2
- NdNo Condemnation
- There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. No one can bring a charge that sticks against God's own.Romans 8:1; Romans 8:33-34; John 5:24
4 · Who we are in Christ
- UnUnion
- Joined to the Lord, one spirit with him. Crucified with Christ, raised with him, and Christ now lives in you. Union is the basis of the whole Christian life.1 Corinthians 6:17; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3
- NwNew Creation
- If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. This is a new identity, not a renovation of the old one.2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15; Ephesians 4:24
- HoHoliness
- Set apart and made holy by the offering of Christ's body once for all. The believer's spirit is perfected; the mind is being renewed and the outward life is learning to match it.Hebrews 10:10, 14; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Corinthians 6:11
- AdAdoption
- Sons and daughters of God, not servants on probation. The Spirit of his Son in us cries "Abba, Father," and we are heirs.Galatians 4:4-7; Romans 8:15-17; 1 John 3:1
- SpSpirit Within
- The Holy Spirit lives in every believer. You are his temple, and his presence is not earned by spiritual performance.1 Corinthians 6:19; Romans 8:9-11; John 14:16-17
- SlSealed
- Having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, God's mark of ownership and the guarantee of your inheritance.Ephesians 1:13-14; Ephesians 4:30; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22
- AsAssurance
- You can know you have eternal life. Assurance rests on Christ and what he finished, not on how strong your feelings or performance are today.1 John 5:11-13; John 10:28-29; Romans 8:38-39
5 · How grace trains us
- RpRepentance
- A change of mind about Jesus: turning from trust in ourselves to trust in him. God's goodness leads us there, and the change bears fruit in how we live.Acts 2:36-38; Romans 2:4; Acts 26:20
- RtRest
- There remains a rest for the people of God. We enter it by believing, and we cease from our own works as God did from his.Hebrews 4:3, 9-10; Matthew 11:28-30
- PyPrayer
- Communion with a Father who is already near. Prayer is not a lever to move a reluctant God; it is how his children talk with him, ask freely, and become aware of his presence.Hebrews 4:16; Philippians 4:6-7; Ephesians 2:18
- GwGrowth
- Growing in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. The mind is renewed and the outward life is transformed, from glory to glory.2 Peter 3:18; Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18
- LvLove
- We love because he first loved us. Love is what the law was always reaching for, and it is the fruit the Spirit grows in us.1 John 4:10, 19; Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:13-14, 22
- FcFatherly Correction
- A Father trains the children he loves. He trains you because you belong to him, not to find out whether you do. His correction aims at your good and is never condemnation. You don't have to read your hardships to know whether you belong to God. Your belonging was settled in Christ.Romans 8:1; Hebrews 12:5-11; Titus 2:11-12
- ReRepair
- Making things right with people: telling the truth, owning harm, apologizing, and making amends where we can.Ephesians 4:25-32; Luke 19:8-9; James 5:16
6 · Life together and hope
- ObOne Body
- Every believer is a member of one body. In Christ the wall between Jew and Gentile came down, and we belong to each other.1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians 2:14-16; Ephesians 4:4-6
- GfGifts
- The Spirit gives gifts to every believer for the profit of all. Gifts are grace given away, not badges of spiritual rank.1 Corinthians 12:4-7; Ephesians 4:7-8; 1 Peter 4:10
- BpBaptism
- Water baptism follows faith. It publicly depicts the burial and resurrection every believer already shares with Christ: an act of obedience that declares what God has already done.Romans 6:3-4; Colossians 2:12; Acts 10:44-48
- WtWitness
- Ambassadors for Christ, carrying the message of reconciliation. Witness is telling people what God has already done.Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:19-20; 1 Peter 3:15
- RnHis Return
- This same Jesus will come again. Our hope is in a Person, not in decoding a timeline.Acts 1:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Philippians 3:20-21
- BhBodily Hope
- God is not finished with bodies. We wait for the redemption of our body, when the mortal puts on immortality.Romans 8:23-25; 1 Corinthians 15:42-44; Philippians 3:21
Keep going
It is finished. Keep exploring what that means.
Every element on this table points back to one sentence from the cross. Go deeper with these tools.