Blood Covenant Part 1 – Do You Need To Apply The Blood Every Day?

Have you ever heard of declarations such as, “I apply the blood of Jesus over my family,” or “I apply the blood of Jesus over my marriage,” or “I apply the blood of Jesus over my business”? One popular preacher says that you must “apply the blood of Jesus” by speaking it aloud so that others can audibly hear you. The reason is that your voice would “activate the blood”. Then he says that believers should “plead the blood of Jesus” in every area of his life, and he recommends to do so, especially in the financial area. In this way, the believer will have a breakthrough in his life and never need to live in poverty. Is this understanding of the blood of Jesus biblically correct? Is there really such a thing as applying the blood?

Where Did This Idea Come From?
The original idea came from Exodus 12:7 – “Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.” The context was during the time of slavery in Egypt when God sent Moses to set the Israelites free. God was about to send the last plague which was the death angel against the Egyptians. All the children of Israel in Goshen were to stay indoors with their doors being applied with the blood of the Passover lamb:

But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.
Exodus 12:13

The blood was applied with hyssop (a herbal plant from the mint family that apparently has cleansing, medicinal, and flavoring properties) on the lintel that was across the top of the door and the two side posts. There was to be no blood on the threshold because no one was allowed to trample on the blood of the Passover lamb. So, the three spots, where the blood was, formed a shape like a covering. When the death angel passed over the land, only those families in the houses with the covering of the blood of the Passover lamb will be protected. Thus this idea of applying the blood and activating a protective shield is adopted and taught by some preachers some thirty years ago. Since then, many believers of the Charismatic persuasion have been taught to “apply the blood of the Lamb and activate the power of the blood” upon their lives.

Do You Need To Activate The Blood?
One notable preacher says that the blood in the basin is of no use. It has to be applied to the doorframes for the blood to be “activated”. Thus, he claims that even though Jesus shed His blood on the cross, it is of no use unless you “activate” it. As the hyssop is used to apply the blood on the door frame, it is, therefore, an activating agent. Today, you are no longer using real hyssop and the real blood of the lamb. So, you have to find your “spiritual hyssop” to activate the “blood of the Lamb of God”.

Then promptly, the preacher refers to Revelation 12:11 – “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony….” How convenient this verse seems to fit into the preacher’s idea of the missing “spiritual hyssop”. He points out that in this verse, the believers are using the blood of the Lamb to “conquer” the devil with the “applicator” or “spiritual hyssop” which is the “word of their testimony”. A new idea has emerged and that is you need to “apply the blood and activate it by your own confession”. Another common slogan that evolved from this idea is to “plead the blood” (To be discussed in another blog post).

What Is The Actual Meaning?
First and foremost, the blood of the Lamb is the GROUND or BASIS for the believers to triumph over the devil. It is the REASON why they are victorious and not because they use the blood like a weapon or an instrument of warfare.

We know that the word “blood” is a short form for the “covenant of blood”. It has never been referred merely to the biological blood that includes hemoglobin in the red blood cells. No, it is never about the red fluid that flows in our bodies unless it is related to a covenant. A covenant is strictly not a weapon but a relational agreement. The Old Testament has the same idea that covenant is only for relational purposes – the blood sacrifice was always made in connection with God’s covenant and no blood alone was ever used as a weapon to fight the enemies.

How Do You Apply A Blood Covenant?
You don’t have to apply a blood covenant because it is already a “done deal”. The day that you surrendered your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ, accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, and simultaneously, you recognized that Jesus had shed His blood and died on the cross for your sins, He washed away your sins. The covenant between God and you had been established and you are under His protection and blessings. From then on, you live in obedience as a faithful child of God within the blood covenant.

It is like a marriage covenant. How do you practically “apply” it? By being faithful to your spouse after you have signed the wedding certificate and wedding ceremony. Do you wake up every morning, and declare that you are applying the marriage covenant in the mighty name of Jesus? No, of course not. If you were to keep doing that every day, your spouse might suspect that you are crazy.

Why are some believers still doing this daily ritual of applying the blood to themselves? They do not have to do that anymore. The blood covenant of Jesus Christ is sealed confirmed by God with the giving of the Holy Spirit.

“When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14).

What Does It Mean To Be Sealed With The Holy Spirit?
In antiquity, letters were sent out with a seal of the writer upon the wax. This method is used, even today, in some countries for their contracts, certificates, and important documents. In farming communities. the flocks are often sealed or branded so as to show to which farmers the animals belonged.

The Bible says that Abraham “received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.” (Romans 4:11).

A seal is a mark of ownership and God used it quite often to indicate who were his chosen ones. In Ezekiel 9:4-6, God asked His angel to put a seal upon the people whom he approved and kept them protected from the judgment of His anger.

The Holy Spirit is the seal that God has given to the believers in this New Covenant. If you have been born again, the Holy Spirit has already indwelled or taken up residence in your heart. You are forever sealed in this covenant with God and identified as His children. He has prepared an inheritance for you because you are the heir of God. Read what Paul says in Romans 8:15-17

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, “Abba, Father.” For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ, we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

Since The Holy Spirit is given to confirm that you belong to God, you now have the fullest assurance that on that basis, you can move from victory to victory. You have no need to go through the ritual of “applying the blood” anymore. You are already under the “blood” and that is to say, you are already protected by the blood covenant that Jesus has established on the cross. You may go through trials and difficulties, but the promised Holy Spirit is there to help you. One day, you will see God face to face and enjoy your inheritance as an heir of your Father in heaven.

Understanding Generational Curses – Part 5 (Individual Judgement vs. Generational Judgement)

Recently, a reader who read my blog posts – “Understanding Generational Curses” – said that her family, because of the high divorce rate among her siblings, is still under the generational curses of their ancestors. Her predicament is that no matter how she confessed on behalf of her ancestors for their sins, she has no way of knowing whether this curse of divorce would continue to her children and grandchildren. She keeps asking God to reveal the hidden sins of her ancestors and that process almost drives her crazy. She has so many nightmares about all the unrepented and unrenounced ancestral sins that might still harm her and her family. It is very sad because she thought that she would gain total freedom in Christ through a course about “Generational Curses” and now, she finds herself trapped in fear and bondage.

Getting Rid Of The Inherited Futile Way Of Life?
The proponents of the “Generational Curses” encourage you to ask God to reveal the sins of your ancestors to get rid of “… your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers.” (1 Peter 1:18). This is the verse that they referred to in their instruction manual. (Neil Anderson, The Steps To Freedom In Christ – Step Seven, Curses Versus Blessings).

To be fair to your understanding of this portion, let’s check 1 Peter 1:18 and also verse19.

“…knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” 1 Peter 1:18-19 (NASB)

Do you read any mention of generational curses or the need to repent or renounce the “futile way of life that you inherited from your forefathers”? Let’s see if we can decipher these verses by reading another translation:

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 1 Peter 1:18-19 (NLT)

Now, the meaning is very clear – God has already paid the price to save you from the “futile life that you have inherited from your forefathers” and He did it through the “precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.”

Do you need a secondary ritual to repent and renounce this “futile life that you have inherited from your forefathers” even after you have been Born Again? Absolutely not!

If Not Guilty Then Why Repent And Renounce?
The proponents of “Generational Curses” often quote Exodus 20:4-6 about the “iniquities of one generation can be visited on to the third and fourth generations of those who hate God” to mean “the iniquities of one generation can adversely affect future ones unless those sins are renounced, and your new spiritual heritage in Christ is claimed. This cycle of abuse and all negative influences can be stopped by genuine repentance.” Then almost immediately, they say that “you are not guilty of your ancestor’s sins, but because of their sins you have been affected by their influence.“ (Neil Anderson, The Steps To Freedom In Christ – Step Seven, Curses Versus Blessings).

Now, the question is if you are not guilty of your ancestor’s sins, then why do you need to stop the curse by”genuine repentance”. What is the biblical idea of repentance?

Both the Old and New Testament has a similar meaning to the word, “repentance”. The two Hebrew words, “nacham’ and “sub”, found in the Old Testament, depict a “turning around”; “a change of mind”; and “a restoration or return to the relationship with God”. The Greek word, “metanoia” in the New Testament literally means “to change the mind.” So, whose mind would you be changing in your repentance? Yours or those of your ancestors’ minds?

The Principle of Individual Judgment
You can only repent for your personal sins. Ezekiel echoes this truth in Ezekiel 18:20 – “The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.”

This is based on the principle of individual judgment as stated in Deuteronomy 24:16 – “Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.”

The Principle of Generational Judgment
What about the generational judgment that seems to prevail in the Old Testament? How are we to understand it?

The verse in Jeremiah 32:18 is similar in meaning to that of Exodus 34:7: “Keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation” (see also Exodus 20:5–6).

Jeremiah recognized that the exile was a generational judgment – “Our fathers sinned, and are gone; It is we who have been burdened with the punishment for their wrongdoings.” (Lamentations 5:7).

The Old Testament has quite a few examples of the descendants paying for the sins of their forefathers – for example, the great flood that drowned everybody (children included) except Noah’s family (Gen. 7:21). God rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah killing everybody there (Genesis 19:24–25). How about Achan? The Bible recorded that: “And all the Israelites stoned Achan and his family and burned their bodies.” (Joshua 7:25).

Another gruesome act of generational judgment is found in 2 Samuel 21 where David handed over seven of Saul’s descendants (two sons and five grandsons) to the Gibeonites, who executed them. King Saul had violated the covenant made between Joshua and the Gibeonites (Joshua 9) when he massacred them in order to get rid of them from Israel. Reading 2 Samuel 21:1 – you will notice that King Saul’s children and grandchildren were also not innocent of this violation – “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.” The “blood-stained house” refers to his sons and grandsons who may be guilty of approval or involvement.

Jeroboam was also judged by having his descendants totally destroyed. Reading from 1 Kings 14:9-11,
“You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made other gods for yourself and have made me furious with your gold calves. And since you have turned your back on me, I will bring disaster on your dynasty and will destroy every one of your male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel. I will burn up your royal dynasty as one burns up trash until it is all gone. The members of Jeroboam’s family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the field will be eaten by vultures. I, the Lord, have spoken.’”

Generational Judgments in the New Testament?
There are other narratives about generational judgments in the Old Testament but what about in the New Testament? To answer this question up-front – there are no generational judgments but only individual judgments in the New Testament.

For example, the proclamation of judgment upon people such as Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), Simon Magus (Acts 8), and Bar-Jesus (Acts 13).

If you searched the New Testament carefully, you will discover that Jesus never taught “Generational Curses” at all. In fact, there was an occasion as recorded in John 9:1-3, that Jesus could have taught this so-called “Generational Curses” but HE DID NOT!

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”
“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him”. (John 9:1-3).

This is the common indiscretion of the proponents of the “Generational Curses”. They constantly try to find the connection between infirmities and acts of sin.

For example, one such person asked whether I was under a generational curse because of the genetic disorder which was an autoimmune disease that I inherited from my father. Thank God that since 2007, I have been totally healed of ankylosing spondylitis by the application of the “kingly authority” without having to repent on behalf of my ancestors or renounce any of their sins. Like that man who was born blind in John 9, my condition was an occasion for the healing miracle of God to happen and the power of God is now being seen through my healed body and life.

What can we learn from John 9:1-3? The answer of our Lord teaches us not to immediately trace the misfortunes and handicaps of our fellow men to individual sin or consider them to be signs of God’s punishment. Whenever we meet someone who is afflicted with certain deformities or handicaps, we are to be full of compassion and understanding instead of judgment and despise.

Are You Under Any Generational Curses?
As far as the New Testament is concerned, we cannot find any instances where someone was cursed by the sins or deeds of any ancestors. The day you gave your life to Jesus, you should have repented of your sins and cut your ties with anything that contradict the will of God. You should have renounced all these past influences in your life and be truly Born Again.

Jesus said being Born Again means that you have experienced a spiritual rebirth (John 3:5-8). You have moved from the cursed bloodline of the First Adam to the blessed bloodline of the Lord Jesus Christ who is known as the Second Adam or Last Man. The Apostle Paul declares, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Jesus is very powerful – and He has not only taken away all your curses – He even broke the toxic Adamic curse that brought death to the whole world -“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).

Jesus came to bear “our sins in his body on the tree that we might live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24).

“The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Yes, you are really free because there is not a single instruction in the New Testament for you to go back to repent and renounce each sin of your ancestors… “So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).

Please read the previous articles about Generational Curses and be set free:

Understanding Generational Curses – Part 1 (Adamic Curse Versus Generational Curse)

Understanding Generational Curses – Part 2 (Does God Punish Sons for the Sins of Their Fathers?)

Understanding Generational Curses – Part 3 (The Danger of Witch Hunt)

Understanding Generational Curses – Part 4 (The Basis Of This New Teaching)