“Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.” Leviticus 19:28

Is tattooing indeed defiling your body, a.k.a. the temple of the Holy Spirit?

Firstly, its important to know that Leviticus 19:28 comes from the Old Covenant law, and if one wants to live by the law - the Old Covenant - then one must keep ALL of it and not just pick and choose whichever rule one likes to keep or break.

James 2:10 - For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

So here are just some of the laws that one has to abide by according to Levitical law (Old Covenant Law).
We may not:
- eat the meat of rabbits or pigs (Leviticus 11:6-7), nor lobsters, crabs, prawns, oysters or clams (Leviticus 11:10-12).
- Hybrid breeding of livestock and mixing linen and wool in fabrics is prohibited (Leviticus 19:19).
- Shaving the sides of your head (being clean shaven) or disfiguring the edges of your beard (trimming) are also forbidden (Leviticus 19:27).
So - if you’ve ever eaten a char siew pao, Newton Hawker center seafood, shaved your beard in the morning or worn a wool blend suit - or have gotten a tattoo – you’re guilty under the law!
Thank God he provided a better way for us to be reconciled to Him. Under the New Covenant, we can come to God by putting our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord & Saviour.

Romans 5:1-2 - Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:8-11 - But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Under the New Covenant, all the law is fulfilled in loving God with all your heart, soul and mind and loving your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40). Jesus came to earth and fulfilled the law and now if we accept Him into our hearts, we also accept His right standing with God. Therefore our righteousness with God is based upon His righteousness - not on the law

Matthew 22:36-40 - "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

So does tattooing defile your body?

In the New Testament, a similar issue was going around, which was about eating certain types of food which were against the Old Covenant law which some people in that day were harping about. Jesus & Paul both dealt with that issue.

Jesus said in Matthew 15:11 that it is what comes out of the mouth of a person that defiles him.

Matthew 15:11 - What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean', but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean'.

Paul teaches that it is the attitude of the heart that is important. While all things were legal to Paul, not all things were without consequences. Paul affirmed the freedom we have in Christ, but he also warned us to beware that our liberty does not become a stumbling block for others. With liberty comes responsibility. A word of caution: do not flaunt your Christian freedom. One man’s freedom can be another’s downfall.
(Romans 14 & 1 Corinthians 8)

For example, it is perfectly ok for me to drink alcohol but if I do so in the presence of an alcoholic who is trying to quit, then I would be tempting him & causing him to stumble. Thus that would be sin on my part.

So, then tattooing is indeed ok for us unless God gives you a personal conviction not to. But why then is such a law, or any of those laws in the Old Covenant even mentioned in the Bible?

Here is one possible explanation. The Old covenant law shows us that it is impossible to reach Gods standards by our own effort, that’s why we need Jesus, to fulfill the law for us, and write it on our hearts.

Anyway if all else fails, just tell those critics of tattooing who want to follow the Bible word for word & not the Spirit behind what was written that Leviticus 19:28 clearly states: "You shall not... tattoo any marks on you." - this obviously means don’t tattoo yourself, go to a professional!



This article has been adapted from the information found from the Christian tattoo association website http://xtat.org/tattoosbible.php