Blood (6) Pleading and Covering

A common practice amongst evangelical Christians is "pleading the blood". I am ambivalent about this practice, as it does not seem to be biblical. The phrase "pleading the blood" is not used in the New Testament. Claiming the covering of the blood" (or being "under the blood") is closely related to "pleading the blood", but "claiming the blood" is not mentioned in the New Testament either.

These phrases are mostly used in spiritual warfare. Modern Christians frequently "declare the blood" or claim the "covering of the blood" as a defence against demonic influence or temptation. Since spiritual warfare is serious, I believe that we should base our defensive posture on the clear teaching of the scripture (see Personal Protection).

Paul gave clear teaching about spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6. The main protections against spiritual attack are the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God). Our spiritual protection comes from declaring the word of God and standing in faith.

1 Peter 5:9 and James 4:7 confirm that we defeat the powers of evil by resisting them in faith. This is not something we just do as individuals; it is something we do with a body of believers. Strong protection comes together by standing together with other followers of Jesus who are committed to loving us in him (see Spiritual Protection).

Words are not magic. Using words that we do not understand to resist evil is a risky game. Pleading the blood is a fairly vague way of resisting the powers of evil and standing on faith. When resisting the enemy with prayer, we should be more precise about what we are doing.

This full series can be found at Blood?