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Tattoos and the Bible
What does the Bible say about the tattoos? Is the position of the Bible permissive or negative concerning to tattooing? In this writing, I try to bring out how I understand teaching of the Bible in the era of the New Covenant concerning to tattoos. Test and study this writing by the word of God. I don't force anyone to believe in the same way as I believe on this issue. I wrote on this topic, because this subject concerns the minds of many believers.
Content:
The Old and New Covenant
Do not print any marks upon you
Matter of conscience
Lev 19:28 teaching of the Old Covenant
The New Covenant and the tattoos
Health risks and the tattoos
Believers and the tattoos
Most of the commandments of the Old Covenant are overruled. However, all commandments of the Old Covenant haven't overruled. For example, the Old Testament's prohibition on eating of the blood is still valid in the New Covenant. One very important observation is that the New Covenant changed the law, but didn't remove it completely. Changing of the law left the Ten Commandments in power and also some other commandments. The high priesthood of the Lord Jesus and His atonement annulled all the laws of the temple service and offerings of the Old Covenant.
The command that you can't print any marks upon your skin has given in the era of the Old Covenant, so is it still valid in the era of the New Covenant or not?
This is a good and important question. Generally, from the New Testament, we can find confirmation that which commands of the Old Covenant are valid in the New Covenant. This confirmation is sometimes written directly such as prohibition eating the blood or indirectly in such a way that we can understand it.
Do not print any marks upon you
Lev 19:28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
Some people teach that this command refers grieving to the dead ones, in which the Gentiles mourned the dead ones by cutting their skin and taking the tattoo. However, this is a false teaching, because this verse has two different commands;
- Do not make any cuttings in your flesh
for the dead
- Do not print any marks upon you
The command do not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead ones was given that the Jews wouldn't make as many Gentiles have done. Many Gentile nations have manners to make very deep wounds to face, hands and feet. The purposes of those wounds were honor the dead ones. To many nations cutting of the flesh was a sign of honor and appease offering to idols who "ruled" dead ones and the tombs.
Some Gentiles could take tattoo in commemoration and honor of the dead one. In spite of that Lev 19:28 has two different commands, which the latter denies tattoos.
The command do not print any marks upon you in the Old Testament is attached to worshiping of idols. Ancient Gentile nations have manners to put tattoos on their skin. Those tattoos described idol worshiping, and on tattoos might be the image of idol. In the Old Testament, tattoos were denied, because they were connected to worshiping of idols.
Some Christians teach that taking of the tattoo is the matter of conscience. The Bible doesn't teach that there are matters of conscience that everybody can obey or not to obey. If there would be matters of conscience, there would be things that are sin to someone and not to other one. The Bible doesn't teach that a believer can decide in his conscience that what is a sin and what is not a sin, or what is the will of God and what is not the will of God. The word of God (the Bible) determines always what is the will of God and what is not the will God. A believer does never decide by his conscience what the Bible teaches, because the Bible tells it what is right and wrong and the will of God or sin.
1 Cor 10:
28 but if any one shall say to you, this pertaineth to a sacrifice; eat
not, for the sake of him who told you, and for conscience’s sake.
29 the conscience I speak of, is not your own, but his who told you. but
why is my liberty judged of, by the conscience of others?
1 Cor 10 teach that conscience didn't mean your own conscience, but to another who offended. Verse 29 doesn't teach that a believer has liberty to decide in his conscience how to believe the Bible. Liberty on verse 29 means liberty in Christ Jesus, in which a believer is freed from burdens of sins and wickedness that he could believe and live according to the will of God.
The Lord Jesus has made believers free from the slavery of sin. This freedom comes true by the power of the Holy Spirit, in which believer can live from the grace of God. This is the process of growth in the faith, where a believer learns to reject and abandon sins and live more and more profoundly by the will of God. Liberty in Christ Jesus doesn't mean that believer can live in sins or decide how to believe in God. The word of God always determines how we should believe in the Lord Jesus.
Lev 19:28 teaching of the Old Covenant
Some believers teach that Lev 19:28 was the commandment of the Old Covenant, and it isn't anymore valid. As I brought up earlier, so all commands of the Old Covenant aren't annulled in the era of the New Covenant. I bring forth few commands of Leviticus 19, which are still valid in the New Covenant:
- Lev 19:26 Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.
- Lev 19:31 Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.
The New Covenant hasn't annulled prohibition eating of the blood, prohibition to use enchantment, prohibition observes times (this means for Hebrew to observe times, practice soothsaying or spiritism or magic or augury or witchcraft), prohibition to contact familiar spirits and seek after wizards. All of those commands are still valid and as prohibition to the congregation of the New Covenant.
The New Covenant annulled large amount the Old Covenant commands. The Ten Commandments are still valid in the New Covenant. The commands of the Old Covenant are still valid that are equal with the teaching of the New Covenant and what has mentioned to be valid in the New Covenant.
The New Covenant and the tattoos
Does the New Covenant forbid taking of the tattoos? I believe that forbids, and I give you these verses.
2 Pe 1:
1 ¶ Simon Peter, a servant and legate of Jesus the Messiah,—to those
who have obtained equally precious faith with us, through the
righteousness of our lord and Redeemer, Jesus the Messiah;—
2 may grace and peace abound to you through the recognition of our lord
Jesus the Messiah,
3 as the giver to us of all things that be of the power of god, unto life
and the fear of god, through the recognition of him who hath called us
unto his own glory and moral excellence:
4 wherein he hath given you very great and precious promises; that by them
ye might become partakers of the nature of god, while ye flee from the
corruptions of the lusts that are in the world.
The New Testament shows us that how we must serve and believe in God. God has given to us the Holy Spirit as the power and aid that we can understand what the Bible teaches.
If we could believe in God by taking the tattoo, in which is Bible verses or reads the Lord Jesus and so on, so this kind of command should be in the Bible. Tattooing was very common in the world where apostles lived. If the will of God would have been to make "Biblical" tattoos, so God would have said that you must make those kinds of tattoos. However, in the New Testament is not a command to make tattoos. For this reason, I don't believe that it is the will of God to take the tattoos.
Some people have said, for example, that the Bible doesn't speak anything about the bicycle, so you can't use the bicycle. The bicycle is harmless and useful vehicle to move from place to place. Of course you can do good and useful things, although they are not mentioned in the Bible, if they are not against the will of God. Making Bible verses as the tattoo is the question showing the faith, which one has. Riding by bicycle is not showing and living by faith, but ordinary deed. Riding a bicycle and taking a tattoo cannot compare with each other when we understand before mentioned example, and the fact that when it is a question about how we must believe in God, so it must be found in the Bible. Riding by bicycle is not a matter of faith, but just an ordinary everyday thing.
The Bible teaches us that serving of God is not the outward issue, but inward. Believer testimony and faith must be the inward issue by the Holy Spirit accordance with the word of God. God said by the prophet Jeremiah that in the New Covenant, God puts His law to inwards parts and writes His law to the hearts of His people. Biblical faith must be written to inner man to his heart and not outwardly to his skin.
Ro 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
The Bible doesn't teach serving God by the tattoos, so tattooing is against the will of God.
Tattooing also can be harmful, hazardous and dangerous. Allergy to tattoo colors is possible. Many substances used on tattooing are poisonous and is possible get some diseases, in which the worst is cancer. If the skin become inflamed on the area of tattooing, so it can lead blood- poisoning. Some researches have stated that tetragenic substances used on tattooing can cause forming of deformation. Some tattooing colors can contain mercury compounds, heavy metals, azo dyes and allergen products. Azo dyes is known to cause cancer.
Tattooing substances penetrate under the skin to the depth of one or two millimeter. The place where tattooing color remain is the dermis. It obvious and clear that tattooing colors penetrates inside of the body and can cause many kinds of problems. Remarkable is that poisonous substances of tattooing colors remains inside the body of a man as long as he lives. This makes tattooing very dangerous matter. Dangerous substances of tattooing can cause unpleasant disease after many years because the body is constantly dealing with the toxins, which are used in tattooing.
Experts say that bacteria and viruses can penetrate under the broken skin during tattooing. Although all instruments would be sterilized there is always a possibility that bacteria and viruses can make damage during tattooing. Tattooing can cause allergic reactions, diverse inflammation diseases and blood disease.
Removing of tattoos can be very problematic. Some say that by using modern technology tattooing colors are easy to remove from the skin, especially by UV light or laser. It is not so easy, because, for example, there are cases where removing by laser leave to the body dangerous tattooing colors. There have been cases, in which black tattooing color has gone into the lymph node by removing of laser.
Some tattooing substances are very dangerous as mercury, cadmium, lead, nickel, ferrocyanide, azo dyes, arsenic and many other substances. Many tattoo makers claim that they use safety substances, but it is obvious and clear that many tattoo substances are very dangerous and poisonous.
Many tattooing substances are very dangerous and poisonous, which make tattooing a health risk. The will of God is not that we voluntarily poison ourselves by the very poisonous substances that are used in tattooing.
If someone has taken a tattoo and believed that it is right, but later understood that it is not right and repented, so you can't accuse them. People cannot undo acts of the past and in many cases removing of a tattoo is impossible. When a believer understands that tattooing is wrong, so the case is closed, and we can't and have no rights to accuse him acts of the past, which he can't undo. In this case repentance and change of mind in the heart is enough. Usually repentance rectifies situations (change of the heart leads in practice reject sins and live in righteous life) and lead a believer away from sins. However, there are cases in which repentance can't change situations. For example, a murder and killing are cases about which repentance doesn't bring dead one back to life. It is same concerning tattooing, because most cases you can't remove a tattoo.
Everyone makes mistakes as a believer, and therefore, we should be gracious one another and forgive, because God also forgives us when we have repented our mistakes.
Petri Paavola
Sources:
33/38 Raamattu
King James Version
Online Bible Lexicon
Strong's Lexicon
http://www.naturalnews.com/022073.html
http://www.everytattoo.com/healthrisks.shtml
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/9584.php
http://www.fda.gov/
http://hubpages.com/Tattoos-Health-Risks-and-Toxic-Effects
Petri Paavola from Finland
