Now I said what we need to do is to understand the blood covenant as a biblical principle. Let me tell you something; listen very carefully: The blood covenant is the subject of the Bible. That’s what the whole Bible is about: blood covenant. Our Bible is divided into two halves. What? The Old Testament and the New Testament. Now, friend, listen. The word testament and the word covenant are the same word. It is the old covenant and the new covenant. That’s what the whole Bible is about. It is the subject of the Bible.

The Blood Covenant Is the Secret of Blessing

And not only is it the subject of the Bible; friend, it is the secret of blessing. All of the promises in the Bible are covenant promises. The Bible says, “The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.” (Psalms 25:14) When the Lord Jesus Christ met with His disciples for that last supper, He said in Luke 22, verse 20, “This cup is the new [covenant] in my blood, which is shed for you.” (Luke 22:20) It’s the blood covenant. When we come to the Lord’s Table, we are celebrating the blood covenant: “This cup is the new [covenant] in my blood, which is shed for you.” It’s the subject of the Bible. Friend, it is the secret of blessing.

The Blood Covenant Is the Source of Boldness

Now, listen. It is the source of boldness. When you understand the blood covenant, when you understand who you are and what you have in the Lord Jesus Christ, from then on, no longer do you live under the tyranny of your emotions; no longer, friend, are you bound to your feelings; but now you can stand with boldness with the blood covenant.

Now there were some solemn symbols of the covenant. You’re there if you have your Bibles open to 1 Samuel chapter 18. We read a few verses. Let’s read some more: “And it came to pass,”—I’m reading verse 1—“when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David,”—now they have become soulmates—“and Jonathan loved him as his own soul”—the word soul literally means “life.” “And Saul took him”—that is, David—“that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house.” That is, King Saul, who was Jonathan’s father, said, “David, I want you to be my son also. You come to my house.” And then, notice in verse 3: “Then Jonathan and David made a covenant,”—we’ve already read that. That actually, literally, means “cut a covenant”—“because he”—Jonathan—“loved him as his own soul.” Now, watch this—we’re talking about the symbols of the covenant: “And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.” (1 Samuel 18:1–4)

Adrian Rogers, “The Blood Covenant,” in Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust, 2017), 1 Sa 19:1–2.

We have just released a new Bible Study based on the topic: The New Covenant.

These lessons are available on Amazon, as we as a part of my Good Questions Have Groups Talking Subscription Service. Like Netflix for Bible Lessons, one low subscription gives you access to all our lessons--thousands of them. For a medium-sized church, lessons are as little as $10 per teacher per year.

Lessons Include:

The New Covenant, Lesson #1
Jesus Institutes the New Covenant
Mark 14:17–25; Hebrews 8:6, 7, 10–12

The New Covenant, Lesson #2
Jesus Seals the New Covenant
Mark 15:6–15, 25, 26, 33–39

The New Covenant, Lesson #3
The New Covenant’s Sacrifice
Hebrews 9:11–22

The New Covenant, Lesson #4
Hearts United in Love
Colossians 2:1–15

The New Covenant, Lesson #5
Right Attitudes
Matthew 5:1–12

The New Covenant, Lesson #6
Fulfilling the Law
Matthew 5:13–20

The New Covenant, Lesson #7
Love One Another
Matthew 5:21–32

The New Covenant, Lesson #8
Transforming Love
Matthew 5:38–48

The New Covenant, Lesson #9
Spiritual Discernment
Matthew 7:1–6, 15–23

The New Covenant, Lesson #10
A Covenant Between Friends
1 Samuel 18:1–5; 19:1–7

The New Covenant, Lesson #11
A Mother-Daughter Covenant
Ruth 1:6–11, 14–18

The New Covenant, Lesson #12
A Covenant to Marry
Ruth 3

The New Covenant, Lesson #13
A Covenant of Mutual Love
Ephesians 5:21–33