How to Start Teaching Children About Salvation by Grace

When it comes to teaching children about salvation by grace, there are many wonderful things about being God’s child, but perhaps the most wonderful is this truth: Christ loves us so much He gives us God’s gift of salvation, even when we don’t deserve it. What a wonderful thing to be loved unconditionally in spite of unworthiness! And what an equally wonderful thing to start teaching children about salvation by grace and countering the misconception of salvation by works, by showing unconditional love in children’s ministry to the kids that need it the most!

Understanding God’s Gift of Salvation

It’s sad, sometimes, to think of the people all over the world who are deceived by false religions that require good works to please God and to make it to Heaven. However, it’s not surprising we doubt God’s gift of salvation as wholly free, as our mind usually assumes acceptance from a holy God can only come through personal works and worthiness. Children can have this misconception too, even if it’s never been intentionally taught to them. After all, life itself can inadvertently teach them that good behavior wins favor and bad behavior wins punishment, so why wouldn’t God be that way too?

And yet, Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” This passage tells us that God’s gift of salvation is not one that we can influence or change based on our behavior. All glory goes to Him for being generous enough with His love that we only have to receive God’s gift of salvation and share it with others. 

But here comes the really good part… Countering the misconception of salvation by works, if we aren’t saved by good deeds, then we aren’t kept in God’s grace by good deeds either. Which means that even when we mess up and make mistakes as flawed human beings—even when our hearts are ugly—we can still have God’s gift of salvation if we believe, ask forgiveness, and accept His grace. Good works are not the catalyst of our salvation, but a symptom and sign of it—our behavior and heart slowly changing to match God’s as a natural overflow the closer we get to Him. God’s love is unconditional and forever, and God’s gift of salvation will always be free.

How to Start Teaching Children About Salvation by Grace

When it comes to teaching children about salvation by grace, however, it can be difficult for a child to understand unconditional love if there hasn’t yet been at least one adult in their life who’s demonstrated it to them. Perhaps you can be that one adult! The child just down the street or in the back of your Sunday School class may be receiving conditional love from parents or school teachers, and may never understand God’s gift of salvation through grace and unconditional love alone. You could be the one to help them understand that we don’t reach God by good works—in fact, the truth is actually the opposite: He reaches down to us with the free gift of salvation we can accept by faith.

Here’s 3 ways to start teaching children about salvation by grace. 

1. Show Unconditional Love in Children’s Ministry

A Child Evangelism Fellowship worker in Maryland told the story of a 6th grader who was known for stealing and violence. Because of her violent, unpredictable actions, she was often banned from public buildings, but she was never banned from CEF’s Good News Club®. There, week after week, no matter how badly she behaved elsewhere, this young girl was told how loved she was by God and her Good News Club® teachers.

Proving just how hungry every child’s heart is for unconditional love, one time the girl saw her Good News Club® leaders visit a house in her neighborhood and waited for hours out in cold rain just to see them for a few minutes as they left the house. “The next semester when I asked her, ‘What has brought this change in you—from stealing and violence to now wanting to know about God?’”, the CEF teacher reported, “Her response brought tears to my eyes, ‘Mrs. Hannah, I began to feel bad about stealing even before I got caught on camera. And then I began to hear about Jesus…then He changed my insides and I don’t want to steal anymore.’” This is the power of the Gospel and what showing unconditional love in children’s ministry can do! 

2. Start Countering the Misconception of Salvation by Works

The next step towards teaching children about salvation by grace is to start countering the misconception of salvation by works. Jesse Overholtzer, the founder of Child Evangelism Fellowship, once famously went through a difficult time as a kid because he wanted to give his life to Jesus, but was under the impression from his church that he wasn’t old enough. As he wasn’t allowed to live for God, he decided to live for himself, and it wasn’t until he was a young adult that he finally understood the concept of salvation by grace, and gratefully received God’s gift of salvation while knowing he was unworthy. However, due to the emphasis of his church on rules, he soon fell into a pattern of life where he believed his salvation was kept up by good works—a belief that left him doubting his salvation, living in fear and turmoil that did not produce the fruit of the Spirit in his life. It was only after he fully understood God’s gift of salvation by grace that he could experience the fullness of joy promised, and his life soon overflowed with the good works the Holy Spirit led.

Ephesians 2:10—which comes shortly after the verses countering the misconception of salvation by works and receiving God’s gift of salvation—says we are God’s beautiful handiwork, created to do the good works which God prepared in advance for us to do. It’s an outpouring of the grace He worked in our hearts. So, when we’re teaching children about salvation by grace, we also need to also teach that eventual good works are the result of God’s gift of salvation and presence in our lives, not the source of it. They’re also not to our credit, though God still rewards us for good deeds though—He’s that generous!

3. Practice Daily Lessons in Noticing God’s Gift of Salvation

Last but not least, when teaching children about salvation by grace, for help countering the misconception of salvation by works, be sure to speak often about why we do good things. For example, you could say things like “We go to church so we can worship God and learn about Him.” Or, “I know, it’s not easy to be kind to your little brother when he’s acting like that. But we’re kind to him because we love him, just like how God is kind to us and loves us even when we’re not easy to love.” Or maybe something like, “We give money to the church or to ministries because we want other people to hear about God and how wonderful He is.”

The motives behind these things might be clear to us as adults, but not always to children. Kids could use the daily practice of noticing God’s gift of salvation in their life, while countering the misconception of salvation by works by remembering that God is the source and motivator to all our good deeds. It might be natural to feel that salvation is the result of our good deeds alone, but that just means that the truth must be shared over and over—teaching children about salvation by grace, not works. We challenge you to show unconditional love in children’s ministry today by sharing the most wonderful thing about being God’s child: God’s free gift of salvation through His love, not our works.