What Does the Bible Say About Tattoos?
1) Direct answer
A Christian should not get tattoos. The Bible speaks against marking the body, and calls us to keep our bodies holy unto the Lord.
2) Scriptural explanation
- Leviticus 19:28 says, “You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.” God tied His Name to that command—“I am the LORD”—showing it is about honoring Him with your body.
- Deuteronomy 14:1 warns God’s people not to cut themselves like the nations around them. The principle is separation from heathen customs.
- 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 says your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost; you are not your own; therefore glorify God in your body. The temple is not for carving and branding; it is for His presence.
- Romans 12:1–2 calls us to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and not be conformed to this world. Tattoos are a fashion of the world; the Spirit leads us away from that conformity.
- 1 Peter 3:3–4 and 1 Timothy 2:9 teach that adornment should be modest and inward, not outward displays. God is after the heart, and the life shows it.
- Galatians 6:17—Paul’s “marks of the Lord Jesus” were sufferings for the gospel, not ink on the skin.
Now notice: some try to justify tattoos by pointing to Revelation 19:16—“a name written on His vesture and on His thigh.” The Bible says it’s on His vesture—His garment. That is not a tattoo; it is a royal title displayed, not flesh marked.
3) Simple clarifying logic
- If your body is the Lord’s house, would you spray-paint the walls of His temple? You see, ownership decides what is done to the property. He bought you with a price; we honor His purchase by keeping the temple clean.
- Grace doesn’t lower the standard; it writes the law on the heart. The Spirit leads us away from the world’s marks, not into them.
4) Short reinforcement
If you already have tattoos, bring your life to Christ, ask forgiveness, and don’t add any more. The blood of Jesus cleanses; live set apart from now on. The Bible’s path is clear: glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Questions and Answers
54-0515 §39
...r, the Mark that was put on their head was not tattooed, was it? What was it? The baptism of the Holy Spirit. And what is the mark that's going to be for this last day? The Bible said, the Seal of God was the baptism of the Holy Ghost, for the people in the last day. Now, there's no... Ephesians 4:30: "Wherefore grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you're sealed until the day of your redemption." The Bible speaks. And Ephesians 1:13 says the same thing---many other places---that the Holy Spirit is the Seal of...
The Mark of the Beast
54-0513 §74
...as the next fellow. Am not I belonging to this church?" And you realize where your church organization that you're depending on, where it come from? Do you realize...? The Bible said, "He that worships the beast receives his mark, or the letter of his name (now watch) in forehead or hand"; that's knowledge or deed. That don't mean you got a big tattoo on your face. It don't have to be that. It's not talking of the outward. It's talking of spiritual. And watch him and see what he knows about the Scripture. Listen t...
The Seal of God
54-0514 §89
Now, He said, "Cause them with the weapons to come forward." They refused to receive that mark. And He went forth, and Titus sieged the walls of Jerusalem, and they run into the city; they starved them in there, till they boiled one another's children and eat it. They eat the bark off the tree, the grass off the ground. And then when finally they had to give up... Titus, when he went into Jerusalem, he utterly destroyed everything in there, killed women, children, babies, priests, everything else, and burnt the cit...
The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast, part 2
61-0217 §38
...er, your Baptist over in the corner, and your Pentecostal over in the corner, and let's look at God's Word. Just set them all over there now, and let's look at it, see. The Bible predicted it by Ezekiel, the prophet. And the Holy Spirit come, and done just exactly like it said. And even little babies, the Bible ... the historians said. Now, remember, the Bible said don't spare nothing, little, or young, or old, or all. All that hasn't got this seal of God will be marked otherwise. And look, who was marked out of it...
Token
63-0901M §137
...tament, new covenant, that God. "After those days, will I write my laws upon the fleshly tables of their heart." Not upon the stony tables in a lamb's blood, which you had, say, "Yeah, I got the blood over here. Now, what does it say do?" But upon the tables of your heart, see. The Spirit covenant, will I make with the people."