How do I know if my child believes?

Question: I read my daughter The Lamb. How do I know if  she believes and is saved?

Answer: If you’ve read through The Lamb with your daughter and she can answer the questions in the book, this indicates that she has good a good grasp of the gospel message.

To check further, you can ask her to retell the story to you. In this way, you can see how well she remembers the story and whether she can explain the concepts. Asking her to retell also allows you to check if she  believes the facts. Ask her the following questions:

Belief questions (These questions are found on page 180 of The Lamb)

1. Who do you believe Jesus is? Is he just a nice man, or is he more than that? [Answer: He is God.]
2. What about you—do you believe you’re good enough for Heaven, or that you are a sinner? [Answer: I am a sinner.]
3. Do you believe that God will ignore your sin, or that your sin needs to be punished? [Answer: It needs to be punished.]
4. Who was punished in your place? [Answer: Jesus]
5. Who do you believe is your Lamb? [Answer: Jesus]
6. Do you believe that Jesus loved you enough to carry your sin? [Answer: Yes]
7. After Jesus died, he came back to life and now he lives forever. Do you believe that? [Answer: Yes]

If your daughter has answered these questions correctly, rest assured that she believes! She is now trusting Jesus for salvation. She doesn’t need to do more. You can tell her:

If you have answered these questions correctly and believe them to be true, the punishment for your sin is all gone. It is just that simple. You will never have to be afraid of the Second Death or the Lake of Fire. Because you have believed what God said it true, you are trusting him—you are now on God’s side. He promises never to leave you. He will always be with you, no matter where you go or what you do.

When you finish living here on earth, God says he will make you perfect for Heaven—you will live forever with him. That’s what God says, Do you think God means that? [Answer: Yes, he does!]

This is something you can be very happy about right now. It is something you can know for sure because God said it, and God does not tell lies.

Perhaps this book has answered questions you’ve wondered about. God has written lots of things to help us. We can discover more in his letter to us. The Bible is full of answers and we will continue to study more of it.

In appreciation for who Christ is (his person) and what he has done (his work) your daughter may want to pray and thank him for the salvation that is already her own! When appropriate, encourage her to express her thankfulness to God in prayer. She may never have prayed before so guide her if needed. You can say the following to her:

When someone does something special for us, we thank him. The Bible says that we can talk to the Lord anytime just like one friend talks to another. Here are some words to say thank you to Jesus for what he did for you. Listen to them a couple of times and then in your own words, you thank him. Remember God is everywhere. He is listening.

Dear Jesus, I trust you. You are the only one who can save me. I am a sinner. I believe you took my punishment. You died in my place. Thank you for loving me so much. I know you will keep your promise to take me to Heaven to be with you.

As a follow-up, here is a list of Bible verses that you can study together. With a Bible, help your daughter look up each reference and read them aloud. Then discuss what they mean. As an additional activity, you can put these verses onto cards and have your daughter memorize them or you can make posters together and put them on the wall.

Verses to study together

1. Romans 3:23
2. James 2:10
3. Matthew 16: 13-17
4. John 3:16
5. John 15:13
6. Romans 5:8
7. John 14:6
8. Acts 4:12
9. Romans 3:19-22
10. Romans 6:23