How to Share the Plan of Salvation with Our Children: The Salvation Series (Part 2)

If you missed part one of the Salvation Series, you can find it here.

All the preliminary steps have been put in place. Your child comes to you asking you to explain salvation to him. You get a knot in your stomach. How do I explain it?!

This is the part everyone fears the most. What if I miss something?! But with a little planning and preparing ahead of time, you’ll be well equipped to share everything your child needs to hear. Write it down, put notes in your Bible. Be ready to take your child through the entire gospel from beginning to end BEFORE they come to you.

One thing I used with our daughter every single time she came to me about salvation, was the Soulwinner’s Bible. This is something I keep readily available in my purse, but it really came in handy with my own child as well. It is a simple New Testament. Inside, I have all of the verses marked and highlighted with a little note beside them about what to say with that verse, and then a reference that directs me where to go next. It’s quite handy actually if you take the time to mark up your Bible like this.

Most importantly, keep it very, VERY simple.

Here’s How to Lead a Child to Christ:

1. Jesus Loves You So Much. He wants You to be in heaven with him.

Hopefully this is just reviewing what you’ve already been teaching him the last several years. He should understand who Jesus is. He’s God, He created the universe, He makes the rules. He loves every single person in the whole world…yes, the good people, but even the really bad people. “And that means He still loves you even when you’re naughty!” Help him understand that God is love and Jesus loves him no matter what he’s done. Hopefully your child will have a good understanding of the concept of unconditional love because you’ve been a good example. “God loves you EVEN MORE than mama or daddy ever could, and I love you an awful lot! In fact, He loves you so much, that He wants you to be in heaven with Him someday!” Read John 3:16.

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“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

— John 3:16

2. But he hates sin, and sin can’t get into heaven!

“What is sin?” Allow the child to think about it and answer. “Have you ever sinned?” If the child has no understanding of sin or thinks he has never sinned, it would be good to focus on this point for several days or even weeks until you move on. Read Romans 3:10 and 3:23.

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“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:”

— Romans 3:10

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“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

— Romans 3:23

ALL have sinned. “What does all mean? Are you included in all?”

He hates sin so much, He doesn’t want sin in heaven. Use some simple examples to explain why sin cannot be in heaven. Allow adequate time for them to think about each question and answer. “Is sin clean or dirty?” “Is heaven clean or dirty?” “What if God lets dirty sin into clean heaven? Is heaven still clean?” You could even use the visual example of two classes of water…one clean water the other muddy (dirty) water. If you pour the dirty water into the clean water, what happens to the clean water?

“If you want to come into the house with muddy shoes and walk on my clean carpet, will mama let you in?” “God can’t let you into clean heaven with dirty sin. You’ll make heaven dirty!”

3. And Sin Must Be Punished!

“What happens to a murderer? How about a thief? Would it be ok for them to go unpunished?” “In the same way, God has to punish sin!” Read Romans 6:23. Explain the idea of wages. It’s a payment. There is a payment for sin.

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“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

— Romans 6:23

4. But Christ took your punishment! He paid for Your sin!

Here’s some good news! Jesus Christ took our place! Help the child understand that sin must be punished, but Jesus was already punished for him! That’s why He came from heaven! Read Romans 5:8.

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“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”

— Romans 5:8

Commendeth in this verse means that He presented or demonstrated his love to us by dying for us. Read Isaiah 53:6.

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“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

— Isaiah 53:6

God took all of my sin and He put it on Jesus and punished Jesus, even though he didn’t do anything wrong! Here you could use the illustration of two papers—One with the child’s name at the top and scribbled all over with black ink representing sin, and the other perfectly clean with Jesus’ name at the top. Erase Jesus’ name on the clean sheet and put the child’s name there instead. And on the sheet filled with “sin,” erase the child’s name and put Jesus’ name there. Jesus took all of our sin on Himself and took the punishment for our sin! Read 2 Corinthians 5:21 to further explain.

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“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

— 2 Corinthians 5:21

I have sin, Jesus has righteousness…He took my sin, and gave me Jesus’ righteousness. What an awesome God! He made me righteous!

5. So How Can Eternal Life be Yours?

God has a couple of conditions. Read Mark 1:15.

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“And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

— Mark 1:15

God wants us to REPENT and BELIEVE the gospel!

Repent means to have a change of mind about our sin that results in a changed life. It’s simply being sorry for and grieving over our sin. We have always sinned because that’s what comes naturally to us, but once we understand what salvations is, we realize what our sin has done to Christ and we are SORRY for that.

Believing the gospel simply means that we trust that Jesus died to take the punishment for our sins, then He was buried, but He rose again so we can go to heaven with Him when we die. (It’s literally believing each step we talked through previously. Believing God loves me and wants me to go to heaven, but sin cannot enter heaven. Believing I am a sinner so therefore cannot get into heaven. Believing God took my punishment for my sin by dying on the cross for me. I am sorry for my sin and I believe that Jesus did all this for me so that I could live in heaven with Him when I die.) Help your child understand that believing is called FAITH. We put our faith in Christ. It’s all about what God has done and nothing that we can do ourselves. Read Ephesians 2:8-9.

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“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

— Ephesians 2:8-9

Look at the word gift. God’s death, burial, and resurrection is His gift to you. Eternal life in heaven is His gift to you. Will you receive the gift? Read the second half of Romans 6:23.

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“…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

— Romans 6:23

You can take the time to give the example of gift giving. Someone can hand me a gift, but if I will not take it, then it’s not mine. I have to accept the gift in order for it to be mine. Christ has given us the gift of eternal life, but it’s not ours unless we receive it.

Read John 1:12.

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“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”

— John 1:12

“Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross as a punishment for YOUR sin?” “Do you believe He was buried and came out of that grave alive?” “Do you believe that He will save you if you accept His gift?”

If you want Jesus to save you, you just simply ask. Read Romans 10:13.

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“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

— Romans 10:13

With the Holy Spirit’s guidance and much discernment, you should decide if they are ready to pray. If they are, explain how to pray and what to say. Simply talk to God and pray through the main points you talked about. (I hesitate to give an example prayer because it should come from the child’s own heart, but it will look something like this. “I believe that you love me so much you took the punishment for my sin by dying on the cross for me. I am so sorry for all of my sin! I am so wicked! You took all of my sin on you and still gave me the gift of eternal life in heaven because you love me so much. Thank you for this gift.”)

If they are not ready to pray yet, that’s ok! Simply invite them to come to you any time they have questions, and you will be so happy to answer them. Make sure they know this is an open conversation that you are always willing to talk about.

How do I know They Aren’t Ready Yet?

We do not want to lead our children into a false profession of faith and cause much confusion years down the road. Obviously, the first step is to be walking in the Spirit yourself and be praying for His leading and guiding in this situation. He just gives you a little nudge that it’s not the time yet. But there are some other practical things to look for to know your child is not quite ready yet. We’ll dedicate an entire blog post to these things next time.

Praying that this is helpful to you as you navigate leading your little ones to Christ. I’m looking forward to sharing more again next week.

Sarah

P.S. Would you like a free guide to print off and stick in your Bible? Get yours here!