The Biblical commandment regarding Vaccination

The Biblical commandment regarding Vaccination

What is the commandment that is applicable in deciding on the vaccination?
The Bible does not say "Thou shalt take the vaccination."

Nor does the Bible say "Thou shalt not take the vaccination."

Therefore it is clear that the LORD has given that choice to us and left that decision with us.

We cannot justify ourselves by taking the vaccination. Nor can we justify ourselves by not taking the vaccination. We cannot pat ourselves on the back and tell ourselves, "Well done! GOD is pleased with me because I have obeyed His commandment."

We are also not in a position to tell others " You have disobeyed GOD'S law by taking the vaccination" or "You have disobeyed GOD'S law by not taking the vaccination."

What then is the commandment?

We can come to the LORD JESUS today like the lawyer and ask Him with sincerity and He will speak clearly to us.

 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, 

they gathered together. 

 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, 

testing Him, and saying, 

 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 

 Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God 

with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 

 This is the first and great commandment. 

 And the second is like it: '

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 

 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

Matthew 22:34-40

The LORD JESUS further simplified the command to His followers who had literally experienced His love while they were with Him when He lived as a human being on earth.

 This is My commandment, 

that you love one another as I have loved you.

John 15:12

We are called to check our own motives and the attitudes of our hearts.

GOD'S commandment is 'LOVE' and it begins with GOD'S love in our hearts.

 There is no fear in love; 

but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. 

But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

1 John 4:18

We must check our thoughts and heart against GOD'S commandment of love.

" Am I doing this to glorify the LORD Whose love has filled my heart?"

"Am I putting my selfish interests aside and making this decision in the interest of others?"

"Is my decision based on my faith or is it based on fear - fear of the virus or fear of the vaccination?"

In the early Church also there was a similar issue regarding circumcision. There were very strong views for and against circumcision. Interestingly, the LORD JESUS did not specifically speak about this matter, although He Himself was circumcised like any Jewish baby boy.

The apostle Paul, who Himself was a circumcised Jew, writes to the Galatian Church to whom this became an issue.

 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, 

and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 

Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, 

Christ will profit you nothing. 

And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised 

that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 

You have become estranged from Christ, 

you who attempt to be justified by law; 

you have fallen from grace. 

For we through the Spirit eagerly wait 

for the hope of righteousness by faith. 

For in Christ Jesus 

neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, 

but faith working through love. 

You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 

This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. 

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 

I have confidence in you, in the Lord, 

that you will have no other mind; 

but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, 

whoever he is. And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, 

why do I still suffer persecution? 

Then the offense of the cross has ceased. 

I could wish that those who trouble you 

would even cut themselves off! 

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; 

only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, 

but through love serve one another. 

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: 

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 

But if you bite and devour one another, 

beware lest you be consumed by one another! 

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, 

and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 

For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, 

and the Spirit against the flesh; 

and these are contrary to one another, 

so that you do not do the things that you wish. 

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 

Now the works of the flesh are evident, 

which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 

idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, 

selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, 

drunkenness, revelries, and the like; 

of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, 

that those who practice such things 

will not inherit the kingdom of God. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 

longsuffering, kindness, goodness, 

faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 

Against such there is no law. 

And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh 

with its passions and desires. 

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 

Let us not become conceited, 

provoking one another, envying one another.

Galatians 5:1-26