How Should I Treat My Body Which Were Tattooed and Body Pierced Before I Became A Christian, Does God Accept Me With My Tattoos And Body Piercings Which Has Left A Permanent Mark Which I Cannot Remove Now?
Question : What does the Bible say about tattoos / body piercings? How should I treat my body which were tattooed and body pierced before I became a Christian, does God accept me with my tattoos and body piercings which has left a permanent mark which I cannot remove now?
Answer : Greetings in Jesus wonderful name! In the Old Testament through the law of Moses, God said to all the people of God, "You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the LORD." (Lev 19:28). Thus we come to find that God does not permit the cutting of the body or body piercing because He considers our body to be His temple. We know that we as believers today are not under the Old Testament law (Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:23–25; Ephesians 2:15), but we still do not abolish the law, but rather keep the law. Are we abolishing Moses' Teachings by this faith? That's unthinkable! Rather, we are supporting Moses' Teachings (Rom 3:31). We are supporting it in Christ Jesus who fulfilled it all for us so that we without getting condemned and guilty of failure we can continue to keep the law and receive the reward of God's promise in Him (2 Cor 1:20), in fact, only when we trust Jesus can we truly obey God's law perfectly in Him (Matt 5:17).
The New Testament does not say anything directly about whether or not a believer can get a tattoo, but it does deal with the subject of the body saying, "16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are." (1 Cor 3:16-17). So we can easily deduce that we should not misuse the body or defile it with things that God does not like which includes body piercing and tattoos. Some of the specific things that God does not like has already been revealed in the old and so we should never expect it to be repeated in the new. If any new commandment overrides the old, then the new is in effect or else we should look in to the Old Testament to find what God likes or hates.
We should understand that tattoos and body piercings are not just “outward adornment,” but rather it is a direct rebellion to God to cut or pierce the body which is His Temple and also we should understand that such cuttings were associated with pagan cults that tattooed their followers while they mourned the dead in the past (Deut 14:1), or we will see soon in the coming days according to the Biblical prophecy in the Book of Revelation where the Antichrist will try to cause all of the end time rebels against God to receive a mark on their right hand and on their foreheads as his followers, and also in the present we see many antichrists using piercings and tattoos in rock bands, cultist clubs and secret societies of Satan to represent their open rebellion against God and affiliation with Satan and his demons (Rev 13:16; Lev 19:28), while the Christians of our contemporary times are naive about the things of God, Satan and his demons still remember to bring rebellion in the sight of God by influencing the people to receive tattoos and piercings and cuttings on the body which God dislikes and finds it abominable to defile the body. And of course important as it is to avoid tattoos/body piercings, we should be careful to give more effort to the development of the “inner self,” regardless of our gender which is much more important and the number one priority in our New Testament Christianity (1 Peter 3:3-4; Matt 23:26).
The general rule we should follow regarding these things are "...whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, we should do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). As you have already told that you have pierced your body before you were born again, God does understand your inability to take the scars that has already been created by body piercings and tattoos in the days of your ignorance (1 Tim 1:13). So God will only look forward for the inner beauty of your heart to be revealed in your Christian life and living, and only expect the you further do not continue against the revealed will of God either by body piercings or tattooing which you already know (James 4:17; Luke 12:47-48). As our God is a just God, God will never unjustly make you accountable for the days you have done something without knowing in ignorance (Acts 17:30). Therefore God has accepted just as you are with your body piercings and tattoos because you have come to Him seeking refuge in Christ Jesus and therefore you need not worry about the permanent mark of scars that cannot be removed now, even a step further I will go and say that God might even come to use you as a testimony to other people who are in rebellion to God, to relate to them and draw them to Christ at the Cross to transform them, and will make you a blessing to others just as you are in the mercy and grace of God. So keep living for Jesus and the glory of God!
Because our bodies belong to God, we should make sure we do not “mark them up” with tattoos or body piercings, as He is the one who will write upon this body may be in the future for whatever purpose He wants to decorate us like for Jesus who "on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords." (Rev 19:16) now, and also God will allow likewise for us to write it for the glory of God in the future time with God's permission as the Bible reveals, we "...will write on our hand, ‘The Lord's,’ and name ourselves by the name of Israel.” (Isa 44:5).
One thing we must consider regarding specific questions like the above to know whether something is right or wrong in our spiritual lives is to understand, ""All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up." (1 Cor 10:23, ESV). Whether whatever activity done by us, does it spiritually build us or build others? It is not just enough to know whether something is right or wrong to keep the law like in the Old Testament times, it is more important to know whether something that is right are helpful and builds us and others spiritually through it. Faith, hope and love should always be considered in consideration of any activity we want to proceed for the Glory of God (1 Cor 13:13), so start with faith or else it will become sinful without it (Rom 14:23), but express it through love and hope the best will come out of us for the Glory of God (Gal 5:6; Rom 8:25; 15:13).
Much Blessings....
Answer : Greetings in Jesus wonderful name! In the Old Testament through the law of Moses, God said to all the people of God, "You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the LORD." (Lev 19:28). Thus we come to find that God does not permit the cutting of the body or body piercing because He considers our body to be His temple. We know that we as believers today are not under the Old Testament law (Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:23–25; Ephesians 2:15), but we still do not abolish the law, but rather keep the law. Are we abolishing Moses' Teachings by this faith? That's unthinkable! Rather, we are supporting Moses' Teachings (Rom 3:31). We are supporting it in Christ Jesus who fulfilled it all for us so that we without getting condemned and guilty of failure we can continue to keep the law and receive the reward of God's promise in Him (2 Cor 1:20), in fact, only when we trust Jesus can we truly obey God's law perfectly in Him (Matt 5:17).
The New Testament does not say anything directly about whether or not a believer can get a tattoo, but it does deal with the subject of the body saying, "16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are." (1 Cor 3:16-17). So we can easily deduce that we should not misuse the body or defile it with things that God does not like which includes body piercing and tattoos. Some of the specific things that God does not like has already been revealed in the old and so we should never expect it to be repeated in the new. If any new commandment overrides the old, then the new is in effect or else we should look in to the Old Testament to find what God likes or hates.
We should understand that tattoos and body piercings are not just “outward adornment,” but rather it is a direct rebellion to God to cut or pierce the body which is His Temple and also we should understand that such cuttings were associated with pagan cults that tattooed their followers while they mourned the dead in the past (Deut 14:1), or we will see soon in the coming days according to the Biblical prophecy in the Book of Revelation where the Antichrist will try to cause all of the end time rebels against God to receive a mark on their right hand and on their foreheads as his followers, and also in the present we see many antichrists using piercings and tattoos in rock bands, cultist clubs and secret societies of Satan to represent their open rebellion against God and affiliation with Satan and his demons (Rev 13:16; Lev 19:28), while the Christians of our contemporary times are naive about the things of God, Satan and his demons still remember to bring rebellion in the sight of God by influencing the people to receive tattoos and piercings and cuttings on the body which God dislikes and finds it abominable to defile the body. And of course important as it is to avoid tattoos/body piercings, we should be careful to give more effort to the development of the “inner self,” regardless of our gender which is much more important and the number one priority in our New Testament Christianity (1 Peter 3:3-4; Matt 23:26).
The general rule we should follow regarding these things are "...whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, we should do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). As you have already told that you have pierced your body before you were born again, God does understand your inability to take the scars that has already been created by body piercings and tattoos in the days of your ignorance (1 Tim 1:13). So God will only look forward for the inner beauty of your heart to be revealed in your Christian life and living, and only expect the you further do not continue against the revealed will of God either by body piercings or tattooing which you already know (James 4:17; Luke 12:47-48). As our God is a just God, God will never unjustly make you accountable for the days you have done something without knowing in ignorance (Acts 17:30). Therefore God has accepted just as you are with your body piercings and tattoos because you have come to Him seeking refuge in Christ Jesus and therefore you need not worry about the permanent mark of scars that cannot be removed now, even a step further I will go and say that God might even come to use you as a testimony to other people who are in rebellion to God, to relate to them and draw them to Christ at the Cross to transform them, and will make you a blessing to others just as you are in the mercy and grace of God. So keep living for Jesus and the glory of God!
Because our bodies belong to God, we should make sure we do not “mark them up” with tattoos or body piercings, as He is the one who will write upon this body may be in the future for whatever purpose He wants to decorate us like for Jesus who "on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords." (Rev 19:16) now, and also God will allow likewise for us to write it for the glory of God in the future time with God's permission as the Bible reveals, we "...will write on our hand, ‘The Lord's,’ and name ourselves by the name of Israel.” (Isa 44:5).
One thing we must consider regarding specific questions like the above to know whether something is right or wrong in our spiritual lives is to understand, ""All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up." (1 Cor 10:23, ESV). Whether whatever activity done by us, does it spiritually build us or build others? It is not just enough to know whether something is right or wrong to keep the law like in the Old Testament times, it is more important to know whether something that is right are helpful and builds us and others spiritually through it. Faith, hope and love should always be considered in consideration of any activity we want to proceed for the Glory of God (1 Cor 13:13), so start with faith or else it will become sinful without it (Rom 14:23), but express it through love and hope the best will come out of us for the Glory of God (Gal 5:6; Rom 8:25; 15:13).
Much Blessings....
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