Pleading the Blood of Jesus Is it Right or Wrong?
Pleading the Blood of Jesus – Is it Right or Wrong?
Many people in the Charismatic and Pentecostal camp love to “plead the Blood of Jesus” over themselves and others and everything for that matter, turning the blood of Jesus into a magic ritual of sorts, a magic wand that will protect you from evil, cleanse you, heal or deliver you. Pleading the Blood of Jesus is not biblical. No where in the bible does Jesus tell you to plead His Blood over yourself. No where in the bible does anyone plead the Blood of Jesus over themselves or others. This teaching is taught in churches and you read in many books that you need to cover yourself with the blood of Jesus for protection 24/7 as though it’s the biblical thing to do. It’s not and here is why.
In the Old Testament the High Priest would sacrifice a Lamb and put the blood on the Altar in the Holy of Holies.
Hebrews 9:7-8: “7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: 8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
Leviticas 1:5: “and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of meeting.”
Leviticas 4:6: “The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the LORD, in front of the veil of the sanctuary.”
Leviticas 4:30: “Then the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering.”
The blood was applied from the animal and it was required that the animal had to die, and give its life. The Blood represents life, the life of Jesus Christ that had to die for our sins. Jesus is the Lamb that had to die. Jesus Christ fulfilled the Passover Lamb. To have the blood applied on the altar was so that one would not receive the judgment of God as He would passover you.
Exod.12:13 “And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
The animals blood was also not moved around and sprinkled all over the place or on this person or that person outside of the temple by the High Priest, it was for the Altar area alone. We can not touch His blood or apply it to anything ‘spiritually’ as we are not the High Priest. Jesus Christ is now our High Priest and He is the sacrificed Lamb. Jesus is the one who after he ascended into Heaven sprinkled His blood on the Mercy Seat of the Altar before God, not us. The blood of Jesus is applied to our lives only when we believe in faith in Jesus Christ to receive His Atonement.
Eph.1:7 “7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;” and Colossians. 1:14
Pleading the Blood of Jesus is not magical
Jesus’ blood is not magic, it holds no magical power. The Blood of Jesus refers to his sacrificial death. Jesus had to die for our sins by crucifixion. And God accepted his death as His blood was spilled on the altar. Jesus said “It is Finished” (John 19:30) before He died, there was no more need to sacrifice an animal, he fulfilled the law.
Rom.5:8: “8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Heb.9:15 “15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”
Rom.5:10: “10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”
1 Cor.15:3: “3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;”
Phil 2:8: “8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
Those who touched Jesus’ body and blood when they took Him off the cross did not receive holiness or any powers or healing, nor did they plead the blood over themselves for protection. However, after Jesus rose from the dead, after He came out of the tomb. He encountered Mary and he said to her “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father”
John 20:17 17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”
When He ascended to heaven he entered into the Holy of Holies, sprinkled His precious blood upon the Mercy Seat on the Altar before the throne of God, and forever settled the sin question, and delivered us from the curse of the law. This is clearly taught in the New testament.
Hebrews 9:12 “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”
In the Old Testament they had to make a sin offering on an ongoing basis, but Jesus came to make one sacrifice for us, one offering, and His blood was sprinkled once in the temple on the Mercy Seat in heaven.
Hebrews 9:24-26 24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; 26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Today the only thing we do with Jesus’s body (bread) and blood (wine) is to have communion – it is solely a reminder, nothing more, just as it was celebrated as a feast after the original Passover in the Old Testament, we do not cover ourselves with the Blood of Jesus.
Ex.12:14. “14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.”
1 Cor.5:7 “7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:”
In the Old Testament, the Passover blood was applied only once to the door, and in doing so God passed over them and ultimately released the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. They could not touch the blood, they had to use the hyssop plant and dip into the blood and apply it to the door. In the New Testament the Blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ is applied only once to cover and release us that believe by faith in Jesus from sin. When you are covered by the Blood of Jesus, God does not see your sin; it continually cleanses you; the Blood of Jesus washes away your sin. Rev. 1:5: “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,”
And it does not have to be reapplied over and over as if it somehow loses strength. Jesus blood is applied once to the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies in the temple in heaven. In the below verse the bible shows us that when we get saved, Jesus’ blood that is sprinkled in heaven sprinkles our hearts from an evil conscience (Hebrews 10:20-22) and we are redeemed “through the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Heb. 13:20)
Hebrews 10:20-22
20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water
1 John 1:7-9 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Col. 1:20 20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Heb. 13:20. 20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
You can’t spiritually plead the blood of Jesus or cover unbelievers with the Blood of Jesus in order that they one day become saved. Jesus’ blood is a once off washing way of our sin and not a repetitive act of sacrifice like they did in the Old Testament. We do not touch the blood of Jesus Christ, only Jesus can do that when it was applied once to the Mercy Seat in Heaven. When we are born again, we are baptised by the Holy Spirit, and our hearts are instantly sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ, that we can now came into God’s presence once and for all and have an eternal relationship with Jesus Christ, where Jesus Christ becomes our advocate with God the Father.
1 John 2:1 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous”
Heb.10:19-22: “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
IMPORTANT: See article on: What is Entering ‘The Presence’ Really all About?
The blood of The Lord Jesus Christ is the same as calling the name of Jesus.You can not separate them for it one thing. Ask yourself why was blood needed in the first place. That same blood is what speak for you and me.
Joe wrote:
How many times in a day is the blood of Christ not over you so that you need to plead for it to cover you? Let’s assume the blood failed to cover you 100 times in a single day. It sounds more like a Jack in the box kind of experience. Now you have it and the next moment you don’t so that you have to plead it over you 100 times in a day. That’s not biblical. It is mostly women who plead the blood over them for protection when they, for instance, drive alone to church at night. When you warn them not to do that, they usually say: “Oh, I’a not afraid. I merely plead the blood of Jesus over me and I’m immediately protected. Jesus’ blood will protect me.” That’s got nothing to do with faith. It is foolishness because the Bible very distinctly says: “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” (Matthew 4:7). God is not going to protect you with his blood whenever you foolishly tempt Him. Forget it.
Sorry I came accross this discussion late but it is interesting…….I am Pentecostal and I know this teaching of pleading the blood but I do not follow it or teach it because I believe it to be unbiblical. Firstly not all Pentecostals and Charasmatics believe the same things so lumping everyone together isn’t accurate and secondly it comes from Word of Faith teaching which is an unbiblical mix of different beliefs. The blood of Jesus that was shed for our sins is sufficient. One of the great dangers with pleading the blood on anything we want is that we somehow equate ourselves with God. In my experience people plead the blood because they are fearful/ ignorant of the true power of God and rather than putting the word in action and trusting in God they take part in unbiblical practices. I take the words of my former pastor seriously when he said “No matter who preaches to you don’t just accept what they say; know God and His word for yourself”
Just nosing around and came across this article. Read most (all) of the comments and then saw FAITH66 response and wanted to say bravo and ditto!!!! I’m not pleading the blood, I’m praying in Jesus name!
Well, this has been an interesting read. I heard my pastor pray these words today in church, my eyes opened and I felt very uncomfortable.
The word of God says…study to shew thyself approved, a workman that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).
Rather than do this, we tend to listen to others and take on their fables without truly asking the holy spirit for guidance.
Phillippians 2:12 – Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. We cannot blame anyone for our misgivings in the word, it is by the revelation of God through the power of His Holy Spirit…
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come (John 16:13).
Study Christian friends so that we will be able to stand against false doctrines.
Thank you for sharing this article and keep up the good work in Jesus Name!
God the Father is holy and perfect and would never confirm error. He would only confirm truth because he is the truth. So if he told me to do it and got the results there must be something to it.By the way that county I spoke about had revival and the churches there which were all of two in that county were all filled with the Spirit of God and many people were saved that week.
I apologize I missed getting this on the last entry. Have a great day.
These are some powerful statements. Especially since I live in Brazil and this kind of stuff happens a lot.
Pleading the blood, oil and so on. To be honest it used to make me uncomfortable, since people would be talking against magic, rituals, superstitions and still be doing this kind of crazy stunt.
And if you speak against it you’re the filthy faithless evil heathen that needs to accept Christ again. Currently I don’t go to church anymore nor I intend to go, too much stuff I don’t agree with and too many years and experiences of my life robbed because of the fanatism of my parents (I was 12 when they started with this church meme).
And to read this stuff now, it fills me with even more hate. Because the church we first went had Benny Hinn books, Rebecca Brown books, Mary K Baxter books and so on and so forth. But now the damage is done, my teen years gone and churches are ruined to me forever. I won’t ever trust a church again.
Great texts, I read one about Rebecca Brown, now I’ll read some others and fuel the flames of my hate and live on knowing that everything is a lie.
Alex,
Beware of hatred. It is worst than false doctrine.
Dear Alex
Sooo if I get this right, you are blaming Jesus Christ for coming up with false teaching when in fact you should be blaming MANKIND for listening to Satan who has told mankind all sorts of lies disguised at truth? I think you need to re-think your hate for the church and God
Dear Dino
>> God the Father is holy and perfect and would never confirm error
That is true
>> So if he told me to do it and got the results there must be something to it
Who said GOD told you to do it? You see when you ask God for something that goes AGAINST His Word then He is not going to answer you. Who will answer you? Well because you are being disobedient Satan is waiting in line to give you what your heart desires. He said, “Dino, you do this magical ritual and i’ll make it work.”
So you pleaded the blood and the demon apparently fled. What you have done is opened yourself up to more demonic infestation. Well done for being disobedience.
Thank you so much for this open dialogue. We had a Bible Study and it ended with someone asking what pleading the Blood meant. As I started to research I found only evidense that this is a Charismatic Teaching and UnBiblical. The evidence that was presented here was spot on and I will be able to take this back to class next Friday. Sadly some will disagree because traditions zare very difficult especially when pastors make it seem biblical. I had never thought of the expression as meaning a reapplying but I understand more clearly how and why people unintentionally are in fact doing that. It never ceases to amaze me how cunning and evil Satan is. 1 John 1 :7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blodd of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. That one time sacrifice was enough for anyone who ever places there trust in Christ. Not that he saves everyone as we must come and repent of our sins and come to Jesus and accept that free Gift. I am so greatful he did not create robots and gave us a choice. Our job is to go and share his love and be walking in the light so others might see Christ through us. Lets keep pointing to the cross while we still can.
Hi Pastor Don
Thank you so much for your comment! 🙂
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I came out of a church that pleaded the blood, strangely it was an evangelical ANGLICAN. I joined a Pentecostal church, which my Mom was attending for a short while and saw a big change in her. This Pentecostal church does not believe in pleading the blood. That was in 1979. since then I have done a lot of research and there is no scripture to support the “pleading of the blood, it is a false teaching. Yeshua’s blood was shed for the remission of our sins, to cleanse us but it is in His authority and His powerful name that we ask Abba Father to set His angels charge over us to protect us, to keep us safe, to pray for the sick and in Yeshua’s mighty name, we cast out demons. Yet many Christians still plead the blood even though they are told that it is not scriptural
Thank you so much for this study. I have joined a prayer group that pleads the blood of Jesus and it has caused me to question this type of prayer as I’ve never seen it written in scripture to do this. Jesus told us how to pray in Luke 11 as a template. It has always been my understanding from scripture that Jesus’ blood was shed once for all. Thank you so much.
Hi CibdyLP. Indeed, Jesus shed his blood for the remission of our sins and should not be used as a kind of magical word to protect your home, your car, your kids, or anything else you value. God promises that He will never leave nor forsake us and also that nothing can separate us from his love.
Pleading the blood amounts to unbelief and that you must do something to activate God into doing again something He has forgotten. Something like, “Oh dearie me, Jesus’ blood has somehow been deactivated in my life and I must plead it over me to activate it again.” People plead the blood because they fear tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness (poverty), perils, or the sword. They want to live cushy lives and the blood of Jesus supposedly provides it for them.
I fear that if you tell them what I had written here, they will want to disfellowship you from their group. And. maybe not. Do not fear them.
this is very good thank you for such a comprehensive study, it gets to show that we dont think about what we say when we pray, just repeating things you hear without discerning it and testing against scripture. Wow it really got me thinking. thanks for your faithfulness
Thanks for this as has bothered me for a long time as none of the Apostles or disciples ever pled the blood in NT.
James did mention anointing the sick with oil( not the recipe given to Aaron as forbidden to use on people we read a little further on!!) for healing by elders so I will accept that as biblical but we are not told to anoint things or for protection.
Dear Maria, Thank you for your comment and it is our pleasure having been able to help you understand better.
I heard a sister state in her prayer, “I plead the blood over this situation.” I was taken aback with such a strange declaration because we do not practice such a thing in our fellowship. It reminds me of the Scripture in 2 Kings 18:4, when King Hezekiah removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image of Asherah and broke in pieces the bronze serpent Moses had made the Nehustan, or in 1 Samuel the people used the Ark of the Covenant as some type of lucky piece to take the place of God and His power.
As human beings, we rather have the propensity to hold on to relics as objects of our faith rather than trusting in God’s Word.
Just additional support to make the prayer appear more powerful. So, who are you trying to impress? You or God? Can God be manipulated, by our grandiose prayers of showmanship? Christ finished the work on the cross,
Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. (Colossians 2:15)
So, why do we have to add feeble words to help our cause?
The cake has been frosted enough!
Hi Jennifer, Thank you for your comment. You are so right. True biblical faith has nothing to do with any kind of ritual or incantation.