This implies "Make any cuttings in your flesh= Use your TV"………eqn X
Then, "Tattoo any marks on you= Use your Laptop"....................…….eqn Y
And, "The dead = watching indecency"……………….................................eqn Z

Esdb:
As in ah!!!!! I xpct all christians to know "Faith without work is deaaaad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" HAaaaaaaaa mst I spell it out to youuuu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Haaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!"

dagr8:
Mintayo, yetseyi, Esdb and all
I will attempt to use an analogy to explain Lev19:28 perhaps it will help us to better comprehend the passage.
“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…..
Let us replace “make any cuttings in your flesh” with “Use your TV” in Lev 19:28 and
Let us replace “tattoo any marks on you” with “Use your Laptop”
Let us replace “the dead” with “watching Indecency” in same Lev 19:28

This is what we will get
“You shall not Use your TV for watching indecency, nor use your laptop: I am the LORD.” (Permit me to call this Mintayo 19:28)……………… (This is an analogy please)
From my knowledge of English what Mintayo 19:28 is saying is that: “I should not use my TV and my laptop for watching indecency”. Good.
Ok, If someone comes and say “It is wrong for Christians to tattoo on their body” according to Lev 19:8, you would agree with me that what the person is saying according to our derived passage( check eqn Y above) is same as “It is wrong for Christians to use their laptop according to Mintayo 19:28.
But, sincerely, is that what “Mintayo 19:28” actually says? Mintayo 19:28 specifies what I should not use the laptop for, but never condemns me from using the laptop. Same in Lev 19:28 "don't make any cuttings in your body for the dead(This was the religious practice at that time) and don't print on your body for the same reason.
Now pagans use Laptop, atheist do, Muslims do and Unbelievers do, is that enough reason for me to say "Use of Laptop"(in this context) does not glorify God? If Some other people use the laptop wrongly perhaps use it for yahoo yahoo,watching indecency and all that, Is that automatic that I have been denied Use of Laptop? I believe the "what for" makes all the difference and is specify in the passage.
I don't use tattoo, I will never use it,but like Timmytimmy rightly posted,the Bible does not clearly condemns it like some people make it appear to be. I believe it will not be right for me to be misinterpreting some passage because I am not comfortable with it or have been taught not to be comfortable with it.
If we refuse to look at Lev 19:28 in context we would as well tell Christians that having tribal marks is wrong because Lev 19:28 mentions "cutting in your flesh" which I believe tribal marks is. Lale which is used for beautification and is lovely would also be religiously condemned cos what the NKJV translates as tatoo is "Print" in KJV".
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.Lev 19:28 (KJV)
At the end of it,writing on my palm too will become wrong according to the passage.

SalC:
When we get there, are we gonna give God all these analogies for something that is clearly spelt out? May God help us.

yetseyi:
owkie then.


theres nothing wrong wit tatoos right, ur personal beliefs which i still do not agree with.

Now its about the what for?

issorait but seriously scriptures are not open to personal interpretation. 2pet1:19-21. pls read.

most of what we ve done here is simply analogies. what we feel that leviticus scripture should/ may mean.

All scripture is inspired by holy spirit abi. lets ask the holy spirit for interpretation of that place

And he s always there to guide us.

JackBizzle:





Well, we will tell God that he should have updated the bible and made it clearer. He would understand.

JackBizzle:





Well, we will tell God that he should have updated the bible and made it clearer. He would understand.

Timmytimmy:


LoL ....But seriously, that's no excuse oh.Early Christians didn't have the Bible as we know it.
They also had controveries. I don't want to sound ridiculous but reading the bible and following it word for word like robots ain't Christianity.

ihedinobi2:

I understand you. But if you are not well taught in the Scriptures, what do you do with what you have read?

Timmytimmy:


I'm not saying it's not important. The point I'm trying to make is the Bible shouldn't be taken the way the Pharisees took the Law.
I hope you now understand that I'm not trying to undermine the place of Bible study.

ihedinobi2:

I didn't think you were undermining the place of Bible Study. I just thought it would be good for us to be very clear about things like that. I honestly didn't think you meant that we shouldn't read the Bible and try to follow what it says. But then what do you mean exactly, was the question I was asking.

And you have answered here. How did the Pharisees take the Scriptures? I'd like us to discuss that.

Timmytimmy:


I think you are missing the point .No one said getting tattoos are right or wrong.
Lemme explain it this way.We have a certain number of things in Christianity that are non-negotiables for Christians...things like murder, fornication. These are the Law, they are ABSOLUTE MORAL LAW.

Did Jesus come to do away with them? Not at all, if anything, He set higher standards in a way that it would be impossible to fulfill by sheer force of will.
He said"if you are angry with a person in your heart, you have committed murder","if you lust at a woman in your heart, you have committed fornication".

I'm pretty sure that the average Christian really doesn't struggle with murder.It is these little things like anger and lust that gnaw away at our souls.Jesus came to set a higher standard of life for us .

John Wesley said something I love: Laws are good for people that cannot follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit. I[b][/b]f you have made a personal law for yourself that tatoos are bad, good and fine.Just be sure that the Judge of the whole world isn't obligated to follow our own laws. [b][/b]

[b][/b]Also, no one said we are to interprete laws to suit our personal beliefs. [b][/b]Zac Poonen usually says something: Each time you crack your bible open, do you see a tree of knowledge of good and evil or do you see a tree of life?......our choice.
God bless.

yetseyi:


I do not think i missed any point(s)
I actually read and digested thw comments on this issue and had declined to make any lenghty comments till my post you quoted.

Somebody (mintayo) actually said tatoos are wrong and another said it depends on the reason/motive. while geographical location was also a determining factor in another post.

I came to a conclusion that we need the holyspirit to interprete the scriptures since most of what we think may be our own personal view which can be influenced by a lot of factors; denomination,personal conviction etc.

We may not be looking at this issues from Gods own perspective which is why I posted that

@bolded statement 1.Its not a personal law its what i see in that scripture
@bolded 2 we xtians do that a lot.

It is because of the last two statements above I said lets ask what the holyspirit is saying about the scripture. All of us may be wrong.

Except you can say categorically that this scripture was illuminated to me by the holy sprit as this.

And honestly I dnt think thats too much for us tp do instead of going back and forth on this issue

vickyO:


Just like money, when I use it to glory in the flesh it then becomes a sin...



Lemme give you this illustration...
I'm in a bus and let's say someone sees a scribbling on my skin and asks what it says. I then tell him its a verse of the Bible that says I can't be condemned because I have Christ. Through that medium I can share the Good news of Christ. Just like a means of Evangelism...

I am not forcing this on anyone, I believe in personal convictions and also cohabiting with fellow believers in unity.

If my having a tattoo will cause another to stumble, I'll just not have it.

dagr8:
Mintayo, yetseyi, Esdb and all
I will attempt to use an analogy to explain Lev19:28 perhaps it will help us to better comprehend the passage.
“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…..
Let us replace “make any cuttings in your flesh” with “Use your TV” in Lev 19:28 and
Let us replace “tattoo any marks on you” with “Use your Laptop”
Let us replace “the dead” with “watching Indecency” in same Lev 19:28

This is what we will get
“You shall not Use your TV for watching indecency, nor use your laptop: I am the LORD.” (Permit me to call this Mintayo 19:28)……………… (This is an analogy please)
From my knowledge of English what Mintayo 19:28 is saying is that: “I should not use my TV and my laptop for watching indecency”. Good.
Ok, If someone comes and say “It is wrong for Christians to tattoo on their body” according to Lev 19:8, you would agree with me that what the person is saying according to our derived passage( check eqn Y above) is same as “It is wrong for Christians to use their laptop according to Mintayo 19:28.
But, sincerely, is that what “Mintayo 19:28” actually says? Mintayo 19:28 specifies what I should not use the laptop for, but never condemns me from using the laptop. Same in Lev 19:28 "don't make any cuttings in your body for the dead(This was the religious practice at that time) and don't print on your body for the same reason.
Now pagans use Laptop, atheist do, Muslims do and Unbelievers do, is that enough reason for me to say "Use of Laptop"(in this context) does not glorify God? If Some other people use the laptop wrongly perhaps use it for yahoo yahoo,watching indecency and all that, Is that automatic that I have been denied Use of Laptop? I believe the "what for" makes all the difference and is specify in the passage.
I don't use tattoo, I will never use it,but like Timmytimmy rightly posted,the Bible does not clearly condemns it like some people make it appear to be. I believe it will not be right for me to be misinterpreting some passage because I am not comfortable with it or have been taught not to be comfortable with it.
If we refuse to look at Lev 19:28 in context we would as well tell Christians that having tribal marks is wrong because Lev 19:28 mentions "cutting in your flesh" which I believe tribal marks is. Lale which is used for beautification and is lovely would also be religiously condemned cos what the NKJV translates as tatoo is "Print" in KJV".
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.Lev 19:28 (KJV)
At the end of it,writing on my palm too will become wrong according to the passage.

Mintayo:

@d bolded,which part of the body are we talking about here? For a christain that has the tatoo on her bumbum or breast,how will the person show what it means? Or how will people see or know that its to glorify God?
As far as i am concern,nobody has shown how tatoo glorifies God.

yetseyi:
dagr8
see ya

JackBizzle:



I think this tattoo is motivating

SalC:
And we won't know he can do all things through Christ that strengthens him safe he tattoos that on this body?

JackBizzle:



I think this tattoo is motivating

SalC:
And we won't know he can do all things through Christ that strengthens him safe he tattoos that on this body?

Esdb:
Ok. Let me explain things to you....

See everything ever made on earth always and can always serve two purpose except a few things maybe... Take the internet for example it can make or mar you. You can use it to watch indecency join cults meet with astrologers swindle and all but at the same time it can be used to get tutorials on science topics read the bible contribute to mission work and all. Even the biro u can use it to destroy make well even the earth even humans. It may seem like I am contradicting myself bt am not.......

Am trying to tell you that there should be no "because other pple are using it for evil does that mean I should not use it?"question at all its either u serve God or mammon its either u use it for good or evil. Its either you use ur body to glorify God or the devil.... Do not join the multitude to do evil christian instinct should point out who does this most to you how people see the people who started this! When you go into a tattoo artist shop does it seem like a *neutral* or spiritual atmosphere to you?...

What I always conclude at when things like this is put out for debate is "anything that brings into question ur stance in christ or that makes true believers question ur loyalty" don't do it!

The bible says come out and be separate. Anything that will make people doubt whether u are a christian at first glance, don't do it at all. You can't expct me to see you out on the street if you re a girl with Brazilian hair, ass all plumpy in your tight jeans, heavy make-up and a tattoo on your arm and xpct me to thin you a christian not a 'church goer' a genuine christian!

JackBizzle:



I think this tattoo is motivating

JackBizzle:


We know. But sometimes, we need reminders.

FrancisTony:
UjSizzle,

I feel you should know. What happened to Mynd44?