Leviticus 19:28 “You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord.”
This section on tattoos also falls under the heading of that which God requires of us, because it deals with sin in the body. Obviously this is another area in which the world rebels completely against God’s commandment, and for which they will incur their just punishment on their day of judgement. Unlike sexual perversion however, the world does not yet force its view on others in this area. So why then do we see the church starting to be impacted by this practice? The reason is because this is another area where false ministers of the gospel try to influence the church to adopt the world’s standards and reject God’s laws, which is always their objective i.e. to teach the church to walk in rebellion to God’s laws. Nevertheless this practice is clearly carnal and has nothing to do with walking in the spirit, for the Spirit of God would never lead the saints to partake of it. Obviously the false ministers tattoo their own bodies, brag about it and ridicule any who would speak against it, claiming that they are under grace and not under law and can therefore do with their bodies as they please. And so because their argument of being under grace and not under law is valid, it influences many immature believers to follow their example. Nevertheless the reason the immature believers follow the example of the false ministers is because they do not understand that the false ministers are using grace in the exact manner that both the apostles Paul and Peter warned against i.e. they are using grace as an opportunity for their flesh (Galatians 5:13 & 1 Peter 2:16), for although all things are lawful to the saint not all things are helpful (1 Corinthians 6:12). The argument that is put forward by the false ministers is that the above quoted passage of scripture is under the old covenant and that nowhere in the New Testament does God counsel His saints not to tattoo their bodies. That argument is foolish however because God has also not given His saints permission under the new covenant to go ahead and tattoo their bodies, but rather His original commandment is reinforced because under the new covenant God owns our bodies and requires us to present them to Him in the condition He has specified i.e. no tattoos. God created our bodies, and trying to present them to Him in any form other than that which He created is unacceptable in His eyes, for our bodies are His temple and He does not take kindly to those who would defile His temple in anyway (1 Corinthians 3:17). Sadly however because of wanting to be accepted in the world, many in the church have begun to abandon God’s commandment in this area and have started to embrace the world’s practice of either tattooing their own bodies or condoning the practice in the church. So what about tattoos that say “Jesus is Lord” for example? The old covenant saints could have also made tattoos that proclaimed that “The Lord is One”, but God forbade it, and so it doesn’t matter what is tattooed God still does not allow it, and don’t forget that the owner of the property decides what He will allow the tenant to do and not do to His property. So what about bodies that have been tattooed before the saint was born-again? In those instances the saint should attempt to have the tattoo removed, but if that cannot be done then the Lord forgives and it becomes a non issue. As an aside, the principle discussed in this section is applicable to all forms of bodily abuse that the world loves to indulge in, i.e. body piercings, cosmetic surgery, etc.
Michael E.B. Maher
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