What in the world is “pleading the blood”? What does it mean and why do some Christians do it?
Answer: A couple of reasons. It is because of the tradition of men and their lack of Biblical understanding.
Pleading the blood is often practiced during deliverance sessions and some do it to ward off the devil or evil in their homes. When we do this we have reduced ourselves to magical formulas – just like when some of us “bind satan”. We don’t need to beg the blood of Christ into our houses. If we are truly Christians, then the blood of Christ has covered the sin in our lives. So going around and saying, “I plead the blood of Christ,” has zero effect on satan. What has an effect on satan what is our holiness, righteousness and salvation. “Pleading the blood” doesn’t mean anything. The way to effectively defeat satan and his demons is by simply having a pure life, confessing sin before God, engaging in spiritual warfare the Biblical way and that takes care of it.
There are some Christians that use the practice (now a cliché) of pleading the blood over just about everything – unsaved family members, cars, houses, children, jobs, and things they want cleansed or delivered. Just about anything gets the blood pleaded over it. But this is an UNBIBLICAL practice and just wrong on so many levels. I must admit, tradition has crippled us! In a day were there is so much false doctrine we must contend for the faith as never before and be watchful else we will be deceived. We can no longer afford to take the preachers word for it, but we must test all things with the Word of God.
The idea of “pleading the blood” is not even a biblical concept. The blood of Christ has already been pled in our behalf and it washed away our sins and made us a child of God. There’s nothing left to plead. Nowhere do we read of the apostles “pleading the blood”, but we do read throughout the NT that they overcame satan and trials with faith, confidence and absolute trust in the Lord.
Where does this view come from?
It is believed by some that pleading the blood simply means applying the blood to our life and circumstances just like the Israelites applied it to their door posts and were protected from the destroyer (Exodus 12). Some also believe that pleading the blood is simply the taking hold of the authority and power available to us by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Some believe it is our priesthood right. Although we are priests, Jesus is our high priest, we cannot apply the blood over any or every thing we want cleansed. The blood is applied only to those who have faith in the atonement of Christ. It is an individual’s choice and it happens only once, we cannot put the blood over them or on them. As believers we cannot resource Old Testament types and apply them to our faith. Jesus fulfilled them already. In the Old Testament motif’s, the blood was sprinkled in the holy of Holies for the people by the high priest once a year. But the objects were those set apart for the Lord, strict instructions were given by God himself on this matter. The high priest could not sprinkle the blood on anything his heart desired. Especially having the blood to be on unsaved or unsanctified individuals. You can’t make something clean that is unclean. This was done only on the objects God set apart in the temple. It was sprinkled on the ark, the mercy seat for their forgiveness. We see no such practice by the apostles or instructions in the epistles to do any such sprinkling or pleading of Christ’s blood on anyone (even those demon possessed). In the Old Testament it was a physical act by the priest to put the blood on the altar, not moving it from one place to another. It is the same principle in the New Testament, one cannot move it on to those people or things for cleansing by speaking, (pleading it). The blood represents the life of the person, we cannot plead His life on others. Only the high priest handled the blood to go on the mercy seat for the forgiveness of sins, Jesus is the one who sprinkled His blood, not us. We can’t physically touch it today nor can we apply it somewhere else spiritually, since we are not the high priest, Jesus is.
The blood was to be on the altar before God. Exod.24:6 And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Heb. 9:19-22:” For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” This blood continues to cleanse today by all those who have faith in Christ’s sacrifice because it is eternal. There is no magical power in application of the blood for the numerous uses it is applied for today. It was for the cleansing and forgiveness of sins only, not for protection. To use it as such is to have a distorted view of its application today and an irreverent understanding of it being precious, incorruptible and holy.
Now, certainly, there is power in the blood of Jesus Christ. It is by His blood that we are saved and our sins are forgiven. We who were far off are made nigh by the blood (Ephesians 2:13). Reminding ourselves of the shed blood of the Son when we are struggling with guilt is both permissible and effective.
Ephesians 1:7 states, ” In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”
Scripture teaches that it is through the blood that our sins are forgiven, nothing more and nothing less. When we are overcome with guilt, we need to go back to the cleansing power of the blood. That is our only plea–as in a courtroom plea. In that sense, we can and should plead the blood. No where in scripture does it teach us to “pleed the blood” for protection or for fighting the devil. In that sense, pleading the blood has often taken on a meaning that goes far beyond biblical teaching. It has become a magic charm that is used in a supernatural way. This is never taught in scripture and can have serious implications. It brings us back into bondage with supernatural enchantments and magic charms. This happened to the Christians of the Middle Ages and they were soon mixing superstitions and magic with their Christianity.
James 4:7 states, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
In this verse you will see that resistance is the opposite of submission. To resist is to refuse to submit, yield, or give in to. If we will resist, the Lord will help us and the devil will flee.
According to 1Corinthians 10:13, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
We must believe and practice this. Those who use this as a means to access the power of God, His protection, etc.. should really begin to re-examine this practice (and others like “binding satan”) in light of scripture and rightly divide the word of truth. This practice has become a sort of magical charm, a magic phrase that people want to use in some instant manner; something that is not taught in Scripture and can/does have some serious consequences. We need to remember that beliefs have consequences – good or bad. And often times those consequences can be a death sentence for some. When we fall into the trap of using something as a magic solution or supernatural trinket.. it brings the us into bondage.
Again, this is an unbiblical practice. The Bible contains no record of its ever being used by any apostle, prophet, or any other believer. Paul and the other apostles preached in many demonic places without once reciting this mantra. It is a vain practice that opens the door to much error, fanaticism, and spiritual bondage, needlessly giving attention to Satan and demons. Do not engage in it.
Be Blessed,
PDCM
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When I use this I don’t use it in a mindset that there’s magic in what I just said. I use the WORD because it will not return to me void period. I understand what your saying but what about alot of other things that are being done by LOTS of christians everywhere like Christmas, and Easter I never seen in the Bible that we are to keep remembering Christ birth and Easter being about bunnys. The Blood of Jesus is powerful and I believe there’s more God wanst to reveal about it through the Holy Spirit.
Hi Jessica! I totally understand what you are saying, but I am not in total agreement. We cannot go beyond what Scripture teaches no matter what. There is nothing in Scripture that the Holy Spirit will reveal that is not already written. There is NOTHING in Scripture that teaches us to use the blood of Jesus the way that most of us do by pleading it for protection and things of that sort. I use to do it too until I read the Bible and most of what I was taught I had to get rid of it because it was not Scriptural (this being one of them). Again my sister, Scripture teaches us that the blood of Jesus Christ is for the cleansing and forgiveness of our sins ONLY (Rev. 1:5; Eph.1:7; Col. 1:14. Nothing more and nothing less. As for Christmas and Easter, you are absolutely right lol! As Christians we all need to go back to sound doctrine! Often we do things because it is tradition or we do them out of ignorance. In these days and times it is time out for ignorance. We are all accountable for ourselves and we cannot blame anyone especially if we are too lazy to read the Bible (not you, but Christians in general). But if we know the truth we should tell it. This is what this site is about. Personally I don’t put a lot of emphasis on those “holidays” because as a Christian I thank the Lord for His birth, death and resurrection every chance I get and I don’t need a “holiday” to do so – no true Christian should. I understand that you may not use the blood of Jesus as a magic chat, but you must ask yourself are you using it in a way that the Bible does not teach? Are you using it to apply protection (for you, your family, your possessions and etc.), to cast off evil, to “name and claim” things or people? For years we were taught this, but it is wrong. We have to always look to Scripture for the right way of doing things even if it hurts our traditions, what we were taught and personal understandings. I urge you to look into this for yourself and if you have to, get a concordance and look up the word blood for the NT and study how it is applied to us and what it does. I guarantee that you will not find it being used the way some of us use it today. It all comes down to sound doctrine. If Scripture does not teach it we should not engage in it. Be blessed.
PDCM
I agree, this is an unbiblical practice, its sad to see how cult-like some of us saints are getting. We have opened the door to heresy and this just brings in fear, superstition and it leads us further away from God. Let us stick the Sola Scriptura.
I agree with you that the bible is the final authority for sound doctrine, so when it comes to binding Satan and his demons one cannot overlook the authority given to Christians in Matt. 16:19 when Jesus told Peter that whatever he bound on earth will be bound in heaven. Because Satan nor demons are omnipresent, only our triune God is. Therfore, their attack is limited to where we are; nor are Satan and demons omnipotent because Christ defeated them on the cross, so if Christians bind Satan and, or demons on earth, they are bound in heaven. Jesus said whatever you bind; one cannot redifine whatever. Jesus did not ask demons to obey Him; He commanded them to do whatever He said, and they obeyed. When Christ said, “It is finished, when He gave up His life on the cross, that included Satan’s defeat, the redemtion of all who belive and recieve Christ’s free gift of salvation, and every Christian’s adoption now includes authority to bind Satan. The Lord God Almighty has reserved the right to have Satan bound by one of His angels and cast into hell for a thousand years,as John the beloved tells us in Revelation 20:19.
Sincerly, Timothy Watlington
Hi Timothy Watlington,
Glad you agree, but as for “binding satan” it is simply not scriptural and here’s why:
In Matthew 18:18 of course, Jesus said, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Some people interpret this to mean that Jesus was telling us that we have power to “bind” the devil or his demons, or to “bind” sickness or poverty and to “let loose” health and wealth. Scripture does not support such interpretations. I know tradition has played a huge part in some of our churches with all sincerity in most cases, but we must now put all such enthusiasm, tradition, ignorance and emotion behind us and seek for a truly Scriptural perspective on this and other matters.
That scripture (and many others)was totally taken out of context. To understand what Jesus is saying it is important that we don’t cherry pick the scriptures to make it mean one thing when in fact it means another. To fully get the context, we need to read the entire chapter in context. The context of this situation begins in verse 13 when Christ asked the disciples, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?”. Peter answered, “ You [Jesus] are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. Then Christ responded, “You are Peter [petros, which means little rock], and upon this rock [petra, means very great rock, referring to Christ Himself] I [pointing to Himself] will build My church”. Christ was telling Peter that He (Christ) was about to establish the New Testament Church and that the gates of hell would never prevail against it.
In Matthew 16:19, Christ continues, “And I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…” The “keys” He is referring to here is symbolic language meaning that He gives His ministers the knowledge of how to enter the kingdom. This knowledge shows the way of life a Christian must follow in order to achieve salvation “…and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven…” This does NOT give us the authority to change what God has said in the Bible, nor does it give us the “authority” to “bind satan”. The true ministers of God have been given the authority to bind only that which is in agreement with God’s laws. You see, he words “bind” and “loose” were commonly used among the Jews in those times in the sense of forbid and allow. They relate to the binding and annulling of laws and rules. The power here given to Peter was soon after extended to the rest of the apostles (Mt 18:18). The apostles were to lay down, as they afterward did, the law of the new kingdom, defining what things were prohibited and what permitted. Jesus was saying their actions in this behalf would be backed up or “bound” by God, because they were none other than the acts of the Holy Spirit expressed through the apostles. When God’s ministers make a decision, it is based on Scripture—based on God’s will. Therefore this chapter does not have anything to do with satan and his demons, or “binding” them so that they won’t wreak havoc.
You said “The Lord God Almighty has reserved the right to have Satan bound by one of His angels and cast into hell for a thousand years, as John the beloved tells us in Revelation 20:1” and that is true, but if that is the case, then what are we doing? If everyone is “binding” him left and right, who is setting him free?
Again there is no biblical support for Christians binding Satan but – the really great news is that Satan has already been bound by a mighty angel on the authority of Jesus Christ Himself at the commencement of this age of the Church! Don’t forget, Jesus had said, “How can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? And then He will spoil his house”(Matthew 12: 29) Satan was restricted so that the preaching of the Gospel could be effective! (Matthew 12:28-29, Luke 10:17-20). Satan is bound by the cross of Christ. There the serpent’s head was crushed and the forces of evil routed. So certain was Christ of victory as He went to His cross that He could say emphatically,”Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out” (John 12: 31).
The authority was granted to Jesus and resulted in the restriction on Satan (Matthew 28:18-20) and it happened at the cross. Of course, Satan still has certain power but he is restricted like a dog on a leash who can be dangerous if one foolishly gets too close, but the devil cannot prevent the people whom God is calling from being added to the Church during this age of the Church due to this restriction which has been placed upon him (the meaning of this passage of scripture), yet he remains vicious seeking whom he may, and the key word here is “may” (meaning he must be given an open door) devour.
Case in point, Christians cannot bind satan because Christ has already bound him. So the direct influence of satan on those who come to Christ can be just about ruled out; only lukewarm ’stragglers in the pack’ who foolishly wander into the path of this devourer are at risk (Ephesians 6:10-11; 1 Peter 5:8-9). Remember satan goes around seeking “whom he may” or who will let him devour. Yes, Satan loves to roam, prowl and raw but he can only do so within his restricted parameter.
My wife and I got into an argument on the subject tonight. I highly honor the blood of Christ and believe that when I accepted the atonement I accepted God’s forgiveness and the sacrifice of the Lamb of God applied to cover my sins for all time. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Since Christ lives in us, I do not consider it a stretch to believe that like our blood cleanses us from impurities, his blood does that in our spirits. However, my wife goes beyond that an believes that pleading the blood for protection is vital because the blood protected the Jews from death on the passover. I certainly pray for protection, but Ephesians 6 tells us what armor to use, and pleading the blood is not one of the weapons. She cites instances where it worked. I say when we pray earnestly, God often answers even if we get some of the details or process incorrect. It is like healing and the atonement. I believe God wants to heal us most of the time. However, there is no Biblical record of any apostle telling those who were sick that they should appropriate the healing that was in the atonement. We have to be careful not to omit anything in the Bible, but also not to add to it teachings that people extrapolate from some verses without a witness of the whole counsel of God for the belief or practice.
Amen Brother John!
John, well said bro. one thing that came to mind when I read your post, is that Christ is the new covenant. we see many many instances of pleading the blood in the old testaments because that was the Law the God gave; but because of the new covenant of Christ, we no longer have to plead the blood – or rather “beg” as some dictionaries put it
. the freedom, protection (though we need to be careful to not get caught up in the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel), and forgiveness is already there. we just need to walk in it! 
A cool saying I heard once: “God’s love isn’t a pampering love; it’s a perfecting love!”
Blessings!
er, sorry. thats supposed to be “the Law THAT God gave”…typing too quick
Response: Pleading also means praying and appealing which means we are going to Christ a Higher Authority than satan to ask for protection has all the effects we need for delivery and protection.
Response: “Pleading the blood” means everything. Are you saying ‘Praying for the Blood of Jesus has no affect on satan, evil, or evil doers’? To defeat satan you must rebuke him in everything you say or do. Do not give him no credit for anything – regardless. Never to acknowledge him.
Hey PDCM you inspire me to do my own studies on this! I knew in my heart that it was inaccurate but didn’t have the weight of scripture to back it up. Tradition in church is so dangerous and this is the very reason why we need to know our bible and communing with the Holy Spirit for accurate understanding in every subject of God. The church is in so much need for a reformation of God so we can get things back in the correct order. Another topic that may ruffle feathers is the subject of communion and it is not about eating a cracker/wafer and drinking wine/juice but much more meaningful and deeper than that! But hey that might have been a topic that has been discussed. I found this site by google. I agree with the issue of binding satan stuff too. People trying to bind him but living by his ways lol madness! Reminds me of the seven sons of sceva! All the accurate and correct answers are in the scriptures. It goes back to what Jesus said to this guy in the Gospel of Luke concerning the scriptures “HOW readest thou the scriptures”
Goodday Sir,
Not up to 24hours ago, I was talking to the church during our Bible study in the church where I worship in India concerning the “pleading the blood” of Jesus. Without even coming to your site, I boldily told them including the Pastor that it was wrong. I pointed out to them on Aaron’s days and that of Mechizediek. I told them, the church that Christ did poured out His blood as a sacrifice to the sin nature and that this He did once and for all and no need for us to be repeating but they will not believe me, including the Pastor.
They told me it works and that there is power in the blood, yes there is power in the blood but not the way the use it. I did same many many years ago before I came to know the truth on the subject.
To be honest with you, I want to leave the church but some reasons are still holding me, the Pastor is very loving to me and wants me to teach in a house fellowship and also in the sunday school. I have being rejecting this offer because some of their teachings are different from what I read in the Bible. Always putting emphasis on the oil, either for protection or for prayers. child delievery. The members attach so much interest on these things and I am making some of them understand.
What do I do? I dont condem them but the pratice. How best do I handle it. So this now led me to your website. Thanks so much for having something like this, remain Blessed.
Paul
I was watching TBN today and the minister was saying “Do you need finances – it’s the blood…do you need healing…it’s the blood…” and on and on. I was so angry when I heard this. I was under that kind of teaching for many years (WOF), and my faith in the goodness of God was almost destroyed because, no matter how many times I plead the blood or bound the devil, bad things still happened to me and my family.
Thank you for speaking truth.
thanks so much. I have the most wonderful Pastors and they teach SOUND DOCTRINE and TRUTH. Last night at one of our minisry meetings our Pastor was asked about our evangilist saying to plead the blood daily over our lives, and we were told that was not even in the bible anywhere. I always trust my pastors completely, but there are some things I always like to just look up and confirm. This is a wonderful site. I found it by going to ask.com and asking the question about pleading the blood. Thanks so much for the Truth of Gods Word.
thanks so much for posting this, this was the second time i had heard this recently (pleading the blood) and i have to admit i thought that it was just covering our loved ones in prayer & i prayed it yesterday over my family, i often pray that i would not be deceived and that the Holy Spirit would speak truth to me and i know thats why im reading this article right now..thank you God for always revealing truth to me and for not allowing me to get wrapped up in things that arent of you.