TATTOO MARKS
He is faithful and just in forgiving us for our sins
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from Afrikaans
Translator: Robin Barker
Someone wrote to me and asked the following.
“I want to know where in the Bible is the section where God tells us that tattoos are a sin?
Here is my answer to the person from my perspective:
We read in Leviticus 19:28:
LEV 19:28 “Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.”
In the New Living Translation (NLT) Leviticus 19:28 reads as follows.
LEV 19:28 “Do not cut your bodies for the dead, and do not mark your skin with tattoos. I am the Lord.”
I know that I have now quoted forms part of the Mosaic Law of Moses between Israel and our Lord and that us as Christians are not bound by that covenant, as I read for example in Galatians 3:22-26:
GAL 3:22-26
22 But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
Children of God
23 Before the coming of this faith,[a] we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed.
24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.
25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,
If I really do not find a direct answer to a question in the New Testament that is applicable to Christians, generally I will go to the Old Testament to get an idea how, so to speak, our Lord’s heart is regarding that matter.
Concerning my body, I clearly read the following in the Word:
1 COR 3:16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
1 COR 3:17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.
There are now people who want to spiritualize this section that I have quoted, which of course is absolutely wrong, especially if you remember the following was also written:
1 COR 6:15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!
In the New Living Translation (NLT) for which I am very fond, this section reads as follows.
1 COR 6:15 Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never!
The Word also teaches me that I as a Christian, should in everything that I do – and that includes my body – ask myself that whatever I want to and what I am about to do, is to the glorification of our Lord.
1 COR 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
1 COR 10:32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God –
In the New Living Translation (NLT) 1 Corinthians 10:31-32 as follows:
1 COR 10:31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
1 COR 10:32 Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God.
There is also another side to tattooing and it is if I have Christian tattoos – as an example; May I put a fish on me?
The debate is then that I can get people to start talking to me and then are able to bring them to repentance.
This naturally is not the only gimmick that is ostensibly[a] used today to bring people to repentance.
To show how dangerous these and similar reasoning can be, Jesus tells the following:
There was a man in hell who eagerly wanted someone to rise from the dead that could lead his brothers to repentance:
LUKE 16:27-31
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family,
28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”
Moses and the Prophets were the whole Word at that stage. The New Testament was to be written shortly after this.
If you, through the aid of the Holy Spirit, share the Word with someone and they do not want to repent, then according to Jesus they will not repent themselves even if someone comes to them which they already buried – they will not repent.
With this in mind you can certainly see that I and for an example my fish on my arm or any other gimmick that nowadays is, we can say generously used by people and even some congregations within the church, has even less of a chance to lead someone to repentance, as the proverbial snowball has in surviving hell.
I have strayed a little from the topic, but it was so astonishing to me that I just had to share it with you –
The, we can say, worst gimmick that I have heard about is the following:
I heard one day on a religious program on the radio, that there is a congregation in Canada that after the morning service on Sunday, moved all the chairs to the side and then for the congregation who turned up for the service, presented them with a wrestling match/performance.
Listen:
If the Word through the guidance of the Holy Spirit cannot guide people to repentance, then all the other gimmicks that are used will only amuse, entertain etc., according to Jesus.
Returning to my original subject:
According to me concerning my body, tattooing is wrong but after you have read everything that I have written to you and you are still wondering about tattooing, there is an easy measure according to the Word for every person who has accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour but before I share it with you, note the following:
According to the Word there comes a time that the majority people of the world will walk with not only one, but two tattoos marks and you can read about this in the book of Revelation – I share only REV 13:16-17:
REV 13:16 Also it (the beast) causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead,
REV 13:17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.
We, Jesus’ followers, will no longer be here according on how I understand the Word.
I leave you with this thought and you, true child of God, use it as a criterion for all principle issues in your life – to know if it's wrong – not just for tattoos:
ROM 14:23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
In the New Living Translation Romans 14:23 reads as follows.
ROM 14:23 But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.
Maybe there is someone who already has a tattoo and is wondering what now?
Your and my loving Lord says in the Word:
1 JOHN 1:9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
So, if you are unable to remove it and you truly ask our Lord for forgiveness, know that our Lord will not hold that tattoo or inking mark ever against you.
Greetings,
Sakkie