Explaining Salvation to Your Child, Part 1

July, 2003

by: Brock Bolde

Recently, I had the opportunity to take the Third – Fifth Grade children of our church through a series on salvation. In reflecting on that series, I thought that it might be helpful to pass some of that information on to you, the parents of our church, so that you can talk about salvation with your child. Our primary goal as parents is to help our children “see the kingdom of God.” Therefore we must understand what it means to be “born again” (John 3:3). If we are to be faithful to this calling, then it is imperative that we clearly explain the various aspects of salvation.

The first aspect that we will be examining is your child's need for salvation! You must begin here, because if your child does not understand that he is lost, then he will never see his need to be found. The best way to help your child realize this condition is to take him to Romans 3:10-18, 23:

10. “As it is written, ‘There is none righteous, not even one; ’”
11. “There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God;”
12. “All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”
13. “Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips”
14. “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness;”
15. “Their feet are swift to shed blood,”
16. “Destruction and misery are in their paths,”
17. “And the path of peace they have not known.”
18. “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

23. “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

In reading these verses we can't help but notice a problem that exists within each and every one of us! In case anyone missed it, however, let me candidly say that each and every one of us, and this would include our children, has a sin problem. And it is this sin problem that gets in the way of our having a right relationship with God. Because of this sin, our children need to know that there is an enormous gap between them and God that they are not able to overcome by themselves. Their sin makes it impossible for them to live in the presence of a Holy God. Your child must come to grips with this basic truth if they are to be saved. You must help them to come face–to–face with their depravity if there is to be any hope of their being “born again.”

It is because of their sin that our children need a Savior. They need someone to help them to overcome the gap that separates them from God. They need to know that they are not able to do this by themselves. We must tell them that they need God to intervene; that is why Jesus came down from heaven in order to make a way for an unholy people to come into the presence of a

holy God. This is the first part of a six–part series in helping our children to fully understand salvation.