Spiritual Coverings: Don't Fall For It

The idea that elders, pastors, or apostles serve as “spiritual coverings” is a false and dangerous doctrine that undermines the exclusive mediatorship of Christ. Rooted in the theological excesses of the Latter Rain Movement (1948) and the Shepherding Movement (1970s), it revives a priestly caste that Christ abolished. Elders do have real authority to shepherd and teach but have no salvific or protective power over the soul; only Christ Himself does. Every believer under the New Covenant is a priest and prophet before God, with direct access to Him through Christ alone. Any man who claims to stand between a saint and God—or between a saint and the devil—commits the same rebellion as Lucifer. Elders are guides, not mediators, and Christ alone is our covering.