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Is Tattooing Prohibited in Scripture? Written by Charlene Ralph 'You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:28 This text plainly says that a person is not to make tattoo marks on themselves. It is used by opponents of tattoos as biblical support for their position. But does this, or any Old Covenant law apply to New Covenant Christians? Are Christians still subject to these laws? Romans 6:13-14 tells us that we “are not under law but under grace. “ So what about the Law? Is it to be completely discarded and considered obsolete as if it has no use anymore? Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 1:8-9: But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane Paul declares that the Law is good, meaning that it is valuable or virtuous for use, but that it is unnecessary for a righteous person. He goes on to say that the Law is for those who are lawless and rebellious. The contrast here is between those who are righteous, whose sins have been atoned for by Christ and are now at peace with God and under grace and those who are unrighteous, whose sins are not atoned for and are at war with God and under Law. The Israelites were just such a people, lawless and rebellious and subject to the Law that God instituted for them. There were two distinct aspects to the Law. It was a Law of do’s and don’ts, but it was also a moral Law. Leviticus 19:19 is an example of some of the “don’ts”: 'You are to keep My statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together. These laws were neither moral or immoral, but merely what God commanded as a way to set his people apart from all the other peoples of the world. That is why we feel no twinge of conscience when we wear a t-shirt made of cotton and polyester, even though it is in violation of the command to not “wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together.” We understand that the Old Covenant Laws were instituted to make the Israelites a “peculiar” people in how they dressed, what they ate, how they managed their households and their property and especially how they dealt with sin. Living according to these laws showed a sharp contrast between them and the rest of the peoples of the world. As has been stated, all of the laws concerning outward actions, such as ceremonial washings and ritualistic sacrifice of animals, manner of dress, dietary practices and management of property had no intrinsic moral value one way or another. But many of the Old Covenant Laws did have intrinsic moral value, such as “love your neighbor as yourself” or “You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or capacity.” These types of laws certainly have application in the Christian’s life, but there are many morally based laws in the Old Covenant that no longer apply in the New Covenant, such as: If a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to you that he sells himself to you, you shall not subject him to a slave's service. 'He shall be with you as a hired man, as if he were a sojourner; he shall serve with you until the year of jubilee. Lev 25:39-41 This is a morally based law, since it would be immoral to subject a countryman to a slave’s service, but it is not one that can apply to Christians. So, which laws, if any, from the Old Covenant law apply to New Covenant Christians? It is plain that the morally neutral aspects of the Law such as ceremonial washings, sacrifices, dress etc. do not apply to Christians. We are not required to dress or eat as the Israelites did and certainly we are not to sacrifice animals for our sin. So what about the moral aspects of the Law? Are we bound to obey those? Thankfully, God sums it all up for us: For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." Galatians 5:14 It couldn’t be simpler. The whole of the Old Covenant Law is summed up in one command. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Romans 13:8-10 Christians are not required to follow law (since we are free from the law- Romans 8:2), but are to love. Those who have a heart to truly love don’t need a law to tell them to. Though there are many “laws” or commandments in the New Testament, they all instruct us to do one thing: love God and people. That is the only law we are bound by. When we obey this law we are fulfilling and satisfying all of the requirements of the Old Covenant Law. And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' "This is the great and foremost commandment. "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' " On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." Matthew 22:37-40 So how does this answer the question: Is tattooing prohibited in scripture? How does the passage below fit into the New Covenant law of love that Christians are required to obey? 'You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:28 The first phrase has a moral aspect to it, since it has the qualifier “for the dead”. It was immoral to cut or gash oneself as a response to someone dying because it was a pagan religious practice and dishonoring to God. But God did command to make cuts in the body, circumcision being the prime example, as well as ear piercing for slaves. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl ; and he shall serve him permanently. Exodus 21:6 So it is not the cutting of the body itself that is wrong, but the reason it is being done. In the matter of cutting the body for circumcision, this was a God exalting action. When a slave had his ear pierced, it highly honored his master. Piercing signified that a slave was making a lifelong commitment to serve his master. The second phrase: “nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves” has no qualifier and therefore could be interpreted as a morally neutral command. If it is morally neutral, it would, for example, fall into the same category as “do not wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together “ and thus would not apply in the New Covenant. If, on the other hand, it does have a qualifier, though it is not written, then there could be a moral aspect to it. If tattooing in this case has to do with “the dead”, then it would be morally wrong to tattoo, but only if it were “for the dead”. If the prohibition against tattoos was because they dishonored God in some way, but not having to do with “the dead”, then it also would be morally wrong to tattoo. Tattooing was a common practice in the ancient world, so it is possible that this prohibition against tattoos was another way that God wanted to make the Israelites separate and distinct from all the other peoples of the world. If that is the case, then it certainly has nothing to do with Christians since we are not required to live and dress and look the way the Israelites did. The thing that sets Christians apart from the rest of the peoples of the world is our love for each other, not how we look: " By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35 Some may argue that since God commands: “'You shall not …make any tattoo marks on yourselves:”, that this must be absolutely obeyed. The question then arises: why obey this law, but not all of the others? Why is this one chosen as a law that must be obeyed? If a Christian subjects himself to this law, then it follows that he should obey all: For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. James 2:10 Or you may say, in respect to the Christian who wants to keep just this one law about tattooing, :for whoever keeps just this one law, is he not guilty of breaking all the others? Another may argue that not only do Christians have to keep Old Testament law concerning tattoos, but they also must obey the Ten Commandments (and seemingly any other laws that seem appropriate). I agree that Christians should obey the Ten Commandments, but not as a process of obeying the Law because it is Law, but rather in the process of loving God and people. A Christian naturally obeys all of the Commandments when they live out God’s love according to his word. That’s what it means in Romans 13:8-10, where it lists four of the Ten Commandments and then says: “and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. (emphasis mine)" Loving God and people fulfills all the requirements of God’s Laws and commands, whether New Testament or Old Testament. It seems that the law against tattoos would be part of the “any other commandment” part of these verses, and therefore is fulfilled if you love your neighbor as yourself. Christians are not subject to Old Testament Law (of which the tattoo prohibition is a part), so they are not required to keep the Law. All of the Levitical Law was a shadow and a type of Christ and his redeeming work. Once he came and died and rose again, the Old Covenant was fulfilled. It’s purpose had been served and a New Covenant was instituted. "But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled . Acts 3:18-19 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall , by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. Ephesians 2:14-16 This further makes clear that Old Testament Law is no longer applicable to Christians, since it is described as being abolished. The Greek word for “abolishing” is katargeo which means to render entirely idle (useless), literally or figuratively. Certainly there are things we can learn from the Law and there are good principals in and just reading through the Law can increase our faith and encourage us as believers, but we are no longer bound to it. As Paul said, For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, Romans 8:2-4 The writer of Hebrews describes how the Jews needed to leave the Old Covenant Law and move into the New Covenant: Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permits. Hebrews 6:1-3 He lists six aspects of the Law: 1) not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works 2) faith toward God, 3) instruction about washings, 4) laying on of hands, 5) the resurrection of the dead and 6) eternal judgment and commands his readers to leave these things and press on to maturity, i.e. being made complete in Christ. Here the word ‘leaving’, comes from the Greek aphiemi, which means to go or send forth. It has the idea of completely leaving behind and separating from something. It was used to describe “sending a wife away” when the husband divorced her. Or in Mark 1:18 Jesus commands Simon and Andrew to follow him so they, “Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.” So the writer of Hebrews commanded his readers to leave (apheimi) the Law and go on to maturity. Here the word ‘maturity’ comes from the Greek teleiotes which means a completer or consummater. It comes from the root word, teleios, which means to be complete. He is saying that the Old Covenant Law was like the A.B.C.’s of truth and God’s plan for redemption to teach people what sin is. As the writer puts it, the Law was “the elementary teaching” that was meant to lead people into the New Covenant. In conclusion, and to put it simply, the Leviticus 19:28 prohibition against tattoos cannot apply to Christians because the Old Covenant Law was abolished by Christ’s death and resurrection.
To tattoo or not to tattoo… Since God does not prohibit tattooing, and therefore we are free to do it, should we? Certainly it is a matter of personal choice. Some may feel that it is wrong to do it, even given the above explanation. Paul declared in 1 Corinthians 10:23 that “all things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify”. Are tattoos profitable, do they edify? Again, it is a matter of personal choice and opinion. To those Christians who like tattoos or have tattoos and are happy with them, they edify. To those Christians who dislike tattoos or mistakenly disapprove of them, they will not edify. So what is a believer to do? You want to please God and edify others, but people have all kinds of different opinions, so it’s impossible to please all. I think the best course of action is to seek to please God and discern his will for you.
Desecration or decoration? Some have the opinion that tattoos are a desecration of your body. Since a person is created in God’s image and the Christian’s body is the temple of God, tattoos are no less than a disfiguring graffiti. But does God see it that way? There’s no way to answer that with any specificity or with absolute certainty, but we can draw some conclusions from scripture. God commands us to “love your neighbor as yourself." Not only are we to love our neighbor, but we are to love ourselves. God does not command this per se, but he knows that we do love ourselves and shows that by assuming it in the command to love our neighbor. Everything we do must be in accord with the proper, biblical, loving regard we have for ourselves. Certainly we don’t want to do things to ourselves that are harmful or painful, especially deliberately, but sometimes there is necessary pain in the process of achieving the desired result. Physical exercise can be painful, but it has a good result. Being faithful in a difficult relationship can cause great emotional pain, but (hopefully) there will be a good result. Carving a sculpture out of a block of granite can be backbreaking, tedious work, but it has a good result. Getting a tattoo is a painful process, but if you want a tattoo it has a good result. The difference between these examples is that tattoos are also a wounding of oneself, which could be seen as a form of self-mutilation. The difference though is that the wounding inherent in tattoos is a part of the process of creating a graphic design in the skin, which is the end result. Self-mutilation, such as cutting oneself, is not a process at all, but is the end result itself. Let me interject here that I understand that the behavior of cutting oneself has serious emotional implications, and I don’t want to minimize or belittle that, so I make this comparison as sensitively as I can. My focus and point is on the motives and result of cutting and tattooing, while not delving into the very painful emotions and helplessness a person who cuts themselves may feel. I continue with considering the most important aspect in this comparison, which is the motive for the action. Getting a tattoo can have good motives and bad motives, but cutting oneself can never have good motives. It can only be sinful, since the intention is to cause pain for the sake of feeling pain. But most people who get tattoos, and I say most, because there are some sick people out there, would prefer not to feel pain during a tattoo. It is probably also true that most would prefer to not be wounded and then have to go through a healing process. I can speak for myself and say that if there was a way to take a print-out of a tattoo design on some kind of special paper that would make a permanent tattoo by just pressing it onto my skin that would be the way I would do it. Unfortunately, there is only one way to get a permanent tattoo. I want to conclude by saying that deliberate cutting or “wounding” of the body is not wrong in and of itself, but it depends on motives and context. Circumcision is an intentional cutting of the body, as well as any surgery, or ear piercing, but those things are not objected to because of the context they are in and the motives behind them. In the end, a tattoo is nothing more than changing the color of the skin. Is it really that different from coloring hair or using make up to change the color of eyelids and lips?
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