What does the Bible say about
tattoos / body piercings? The Old Testament law commanded
the Israelite’s, “Do not cut your bodies
for the dead or put tattoo marks on
yourselves. I am the LORD” (Leviticus
19:28). So, even though believers
today are not under the Old Testament law (Romans 10:4;
Galatians 3:23–25; Ephesians 2:15),
the fact that there was a command
against tattoos should raise some
questions. The New Testament does
not say anything about whether or not a believer should get a tattoo. We do have this command in 1 Peter
3:3–4: “Your beauty should not come
from outward adornment, such as
elaborate hairstyles and the wearing
of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather,
it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet
spirit, which is of great worth in God’s
sight.” Granted, this passage is
directed at Christian women, but
there is a principle here that may be
apropos: namely, a person’s external appearance should not be the focus
of our attention. Much effort goes into
“elaborate hairstyles” and “fine
clothes” and jewelry, but that’s not
where a woman’s true beauty lies. In
the same way, tattoos and body piercings are “outward adornment,”
and we should be careful to give
more effort to the development of the
“inner self,” regardless of our gender. In relation to tattoos and body
piercings, a good test is to determine
whether we can honestly, in good
conscience, ask God to bless and use
that particular activity for His own
good purposes. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all
for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians
10:31). The New Testament does not
specifically command against tattoos
or body piercings, but it also does not
give us any reason to believe God would have us get tattoos or body
piercings. An important scriptural principle on
issues the Bible does not specifically
address is if there is room for doubt
whether it pleases God, then it is best
not to engage in that activity. Romans
14:23 reminds us that anything that does not come from faith is sin. We
need to remember that our bodies, as
well as our souls, have been
redeemed and belong to God.
Although 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 does
not directly apply to tattoos or body piercings, it does give us a principle:
“Do you not know that your body is a
temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in
you, whom you have received from
God? You are not your own; you were
bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” This great truth
should have a real bearing on what
we do and where we go with our
bodies. If our bodies belong to God,
we should make sure we have His
clear “permission” before we “mark them up” with tattoos or body
piercings. http://www.divdel.com/
blogs/2016/02/what-does-the-bible-
say-about-tattoos-body-piercings/
