To view our teaching video on “Makeup and the Bible”, please click the picture hyperlink below.
Questions and Answers About Makeup and the Bible
Q: Since there are people on both sides of the subject of whether or not to wear make up, does it really matter if I wear makeup or not?
A: Every subject, whether it is murder, homosexuality, euthanasia, or abortion, has two sides to it. This tells us that one side is right and one side is wrong. One side has the truth and one side is in error. It does matter what we believe according to the Scripture. We need to know where God stands on every issue because we want to fully please Him and love Him. If we truly have the the Holy Ghost, the Spirit will guide us into “all truth” according to St. John 16:13. We should know all truth about makeup as we pray in the Spirit and study the Word of God. As Bible-believing Christians, we must ask ourselves this: “Which side of the makeup issue is the Bible on?” Does the Bible support and teach it is okay to wear make up or does the Bible condemn make up? From the video, you can clearly see the 3 Scriptures that show God condemns makeup and the women and nations that wear it – 2 Kings 9:30, Jeremiah 4:30, and Ezekiel 23:40. I have found no Scriptures that teach it is okay for women or men to wear makeup so I cannot teach that it is okay for anyone to wear makeup. Without a doubt, I believe the Bible is on the side of men and women not wearing makeup.
As the video showed, history is clear on this subject – makeup probably came from heathen people, of which one group were the Ancient Egyptians. God never asked Abraham, nor the seed of Abraham, to wear makeup. The idea of makeup wearing must have came from Satan then, as he has always tried to be “prettier”, more attractive, or more beautiful than God because the pride of his own physical beauty was in his heart (Ezekiel 28:17). Satan then anoints people to feel ashamed of the appearance God gives them and he often uses Hollywood to bring this shame upon the masses. Women rarely feel pretty enough because they judge their appearences by the immoral appearances of the women who work in Hollywood. It is clear that the desire to be beautiful can easily become an idol in people’s lives. While there is nothing wrong with wanting to look nice, we must always balance all our actions by the Word of God and not let the world become our standard for beauty, but let Jesus be our example. Jesus had “no beauty” that we would desire Him when He walked upon this earth (Isaiah 53:2). We should follow His example and not try to attract the attention of others by trying to make ourselves outwardly beautiful in a sinful manner.
Satan has always used beauty to deceive, as his own beauty allowed him to deceive the fallen angels to rebel and fight with him against God in heaven (Isaiah 14:12-16, Ezekiel 28:12-19, Rev. 12:4, 7-9). Satan often uses beauty to stumble people. People assume because a church building is beautiful that God is moving in that church. That is not always the case. Cain presented a more “beautiful” looking offering than Abel (Genesis 4:3-5). Cain’s offering was of the fruit of the field. Abel’s offering was a bloody sacrifice from the flock. God had respect unto and received the blood offering from Abel and not the prettier fruit offering from Cain.
Q: Isn’t it okay for me to wear makeup as long as my intent is right? What if I’m just tired and want to wear makeup for that reason?
A: First ask yourself, “Why do I intend to wear makeup since makeup is worldly and God never asked me to wear it?” You must first see if your intention is in harmony with Scripture. In this case, the intention to wear makeup breaks the commands in God’s Word that are against makeup wearing. Our intention to obey the Bible must be greater than our intention to look like the world.
We understand that some people feel they do not mean to do wrong when they wear makeup, but at the same time, if a person knows what the Bible says about makeup, and yet still disobeys the Bible and chooses to wear makeup, the person will be in danger of living in disobedience to the truth that God has graciously revealed to them. Please know that even our “intents” will be judged according to the Word of God according to Hebrews 4:12. Our intentions will be discerned or judged by the Word of God so we better make sure our intentions are to first obey the Word of God and not to try to hide our tiredness or cover the true face that God gave us. Furthermore, even our secrets in our hearts will be judged by Jesus Christ in Romans 2:16. So I would ask every person to pray and search your heart to understand what is your real intention for wearing makeup and doing something that God never asked you to do.
Some women might wear makeup because they look tired. But please be careful with this thinking as well, as many people say they smoke cigarettes because they are tired or drink alcohol because they are stressed out. We must not allow our feelings to determine our actions. Obedience to the Word should be more important than trying to feel or look better. The glory of God is what needs to be on our faces according to the Bible, and not makeup or anything else that is false and that God did not give us. The glory of God on a tired face is better than the paint of sinful Hollywood on a tired face. Even when we are stressed or tired, the praises of God need to fill our mouths – not cigarettes and alcohol. Cigarettes, alcohol, and makeup are all worldly things and worldliness leads to death but the Word of God leads to life! God never commanded anyone to smoke, get drunk, or wear makeup. We are only to live by the Word and not by our feelings (Matthew 4:4).
Q: Doesn’t God judge me by heart and not my outward appearance? Does God care about my outward appearance?
A: The Bible says that God will judge the secrets of our hearts by Jesus Christ in Romans 2:16. This is why Jesus said we need a pure heart in order to see God (Matthew 5:8). How can our hearts be pure if we are desiring to look worldly with makeup rather than simply presenting our faces the way God made them?
The Bible also says our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). That is why God wants to give us a new heart that will keep the commands and not break them (Ezekiel 36:25-27). If God never gave a command to wear makeup and your heart wants to wear makeup, then your heart is not yet fully changed and surrendered to God. A changed heart from God, along with His Spirit in your soul, will lead you and cause you to obey His Word, according to the Scriptures listed above.
Concerning whether God judges the heart only and not the outward appearance, please consider the following. I’m not sure, but it seems you are quoting 1 Samuel 16:7 when you wrote that God does not judge your outward appearence. I have heard people use this Scripture before to justify makeup wearing but I feel they are taking this Scripture completely out of context. The context of this Scripture is God telling Samuel that He is choosing David to be king, not according to his outward appearance, but according to his heart, as David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). Saul was head and shoulders taller than any man in Israel (1 Samuel 9:2), so God was saying that He does not choose kings by their physical height. 1 Samuel 16:7 is NOT about makeup or judgment day, as some people refer. God does not choose his leaders based upon their height or physical stature.
The truth is that God does care about our outward appearance and gave strict details to His people for their clothing, hair length, and outward appearance in Deuteronomy 22:5, 1 Corinthians 11:1-16, and 1 Timothy 2:9. According to the Bible, it is a sin for people to cross dress (men wear women’s clothes and women wear men’s clothes), for women to cut their hair, for men to not cut their hair, and for anyone to dress immodestly. God does look upon the outward appearance and He cares about how we present ourselves. The Bible teaches that harlots or prostitutes dress in a sexual and sinful way (Proverbs 7:10). The outward appearance of harlots show the evil in their hearts and God is against all harlots (Nahum 3:4-5). As in the case of harlots, their outward appearance can be so sexual and seductive that it could easily cause a person to stumble into sin. St. Paul taught us to not do anything that might cause someone to stumble or sin (Romans 14:13 & 14:21, 1 Corinthians 8:13). So we can easily see from the Bible that God cares about our outward appearance. God wants our outward appearance to be holy and modest, as the Bible teaches. Makeup is not holy since it is not part of God’s commandments.