under a special agreement with
presents Explorers Series 1
under a special agreement with
Series 1
Lesson 8: I Can Become a Child of God!
Dear Friend,
In this lesson we are going to tell you how you can be saved and become a child of God. We will discover five steps that lead to Heaven. But first let us answer some important questions.
What does it mean to be saved? It means that God forgives you of all your sins and makes you His child. God loves you and He wants to forgive you. He wants you to become His child!
Can we be saved by being good? No, we cannot. We all have sin in our hearts. We all do wrong things. We all have sinned. Being good and doing good things can never take away our sins.
How are we saved? We are saved by taking the Lord Jesus as our Savior.
Can I know that I am saved? Yes, you can! If you have trusted Jesus as your Savior, God wants you to know that you are saved.
Can children be saved? Yes, they can! Children can believe on Jesus and take Him as their Savior like anyone else.
Jesus loves children! He wants children to come to Him. He said, "Let the little children come to Me…" (Mark 10:14). If you are old enough to know that you have done wrong things, you are old enough to take Jesus as your Savior.
The Steps of Salvation
Now we are going to find out how to be saved. Look at these steps. We will talk about each step and the Bible verse that goes with it. Start at the bottom and read each step.
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
In this verse God says that every one of us has sinned. We know this is true because God says so.
We all have said wrong things. We all have done wrong things. If you want to be saved, you must see that you have sinned and you must be truly sorry for your sins.
Do you know that you have sinned? Are you truly sorry for your sins? Are you sorry enough for your sins that you want to stop doing them?
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
This verse tells us that God loves "the world." Who does it mean when it says "the world"? It means all the people in the world. Does that include you? Yes, of course! You are in the world.
Do you know that God loves you? Say it right now: "God loves ME!" Say it again: "God loves ME!"
"God shows His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
This verse tells us that Christ died for us. The Lord Jesus died for sinners. He died for ME, and He died for YOU.
Do you know that Christ died for you? Say it right now: Christ died for ME.”
"As many as received Him [the Lord Jesus], to them gave He power to become the sons of God…" John 1:12
This verse tells how you can become a child of God. It is by receiving [taking] Jesus as your Savior. God has given the Lord Jesus to you to be your Savior, but you must take Him as your very own Savior. When you do, you become a child of God.
"How do I take the Lord Jesus as my Savior?"
You take Jesus as your Savior by believing that He died for your sins and asking Him to come into your heart. Your heart is like a house with a door. The Lord Jesus said,
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I WILL COME IN…" Revelation 3:20
Jesus wants to be your Savior. Will you open your heart to the Lord Jesus and take Him as your Savior? You can do this right now.
Because this is just between you and the Lord Jesus, it will be best if you can go to a quiet place where you can be alone for a few minutes. So, right now, before you read the next part, find a quiet place where you can be alone with the Lord Jesus.
Now that you are alone, you are ready to talk to the Lord Jesus. Remember that He loves you and He wants to save you. Here is a prayer to help you. Say it quietly to the Lord.
"Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned, and I am truly sorry for my sins. I believe that You are the Son of God and that You died on the cross for my sins. Please come into my heart. I take You as my Savior right now."
What does the Lord Jesus say that He will do when you ask Him to come into your heart? He says, "I will come in." Does He keep His word? Yes, He surely does! If you asked Him to come into your heart and you really meant it, He came in! Now He is your Savior. He belongs to you and you belong to Him forever!
"He who has the Son has [everlasting] life…" 1 John 5:12
This verse says that if you have God’s Son, the Lord Jesus, in your heart, you have everlasting life. This means that you will live forever with the Lord Jesus in Heaven. This is God’s Word so we know it is true.
Being a child of God is the most wonderful thing in all the world, but life will not always be easy while we are here on earth. The Lord Jesus told us in His Word that we will have many troubles and sorrows in this world. But we do not have to be afraid if Jesus is in our heart. He will never leave us. He said, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).
“How can I KNOW that I am saved?”
There are three ways that I can know that I belong to Jesus:
I can KNOW by God’s Word. The Bible says, "These things have I written to you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may KNOW that you have eternal life…" (1 John 5:13).
I can KNOW by the Holy Spirit. The moment I took Jesus as my Savior, the Holy Spirit came to live in me. The Holy Spirit tells me down in my heart that God loves me and that I am now His child. The Bible says, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16).
I can KNOW because I have changed. Now that Jesus has come to live in my heart, I am a new person on the inside. I love Jesus and I want to obey Him. The Bible says, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation [a new person]: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).
If you have taken the Lord Jesus as your Savior, we would like to know about it. At the bottom of your question page, you will find a place where you can tell us of your decision.
