Biblical Basis for Covid-19 Vaccine Religious Exemption

Credentials

My name is David Campbell Jr. In 2018 I was certified as a minister through the Assemblies of God and in 2019 I was licensed as a minister through the Assemblies of God. In 2020 I was credentialed as a licensed minister through the Christian Missionary Alliance. I did my ministerial studies through the Berean School of the Bible through Global University and I am currently looking to pursue my Masters of Divinity. I came to Christ at the age of six and I knew I was called into ministry by the Lord at the age of seventeen. In 2018 I began to serve on staff at City Church Assembly of God in Binghamton, New York. It was there that I served as the outreach pastor for the Binghamton Campus and the Campus Pastor for their Norwich Campus. In 2020, I began serving as the lead pastor at Tracy Creek Memorial Church. In 2021, I planted The Father’s Heart. It is a non-denominational independent church and I currently serve as the lead pastor and I am ordained.

Phone Number: 607-304-0667

Email: pastor@thefathersheart.online

Religious Exemption for Covid-19 Vaccine

When Jesus calls anyone He calls them to deny themselves and pick up their cross (Matt 16:24). As a person begins a relationship with Jesus what they come to understand their life no longer belongs to them. Jesus is not only Savior who died upon the cross for the sins of humanity. Jesus is also the Lord of that individual. It means that Jesus is Almighty God. Our lives as followers belong to Jesus Christ. The driving force in our life and motivation for all decisions is the will of Almighty God.

Under the Old Covenant before the coming of Jesus Christ, the nation of Israel had a physical temple where they would go and worship the Lord. Sacrifices were brought to the temple and within the temple existed the Holy of Holies (Hebrews 9:7, Matt 27:51, Hebrews 8:7-13). It was in the Holy of Holies that the High priest would go once a year on the day of atonement for his own sins and the sins of the nation of Israel.

Today under the New Covenant our very bodies have become temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:12-19). Within this passage of scripture the apostle Paul makes it clear that what we do with our physical bodies has a direct effect on our relationship with God. When God made humanity He made them a three part being. We are body, soul, and spirit. When we are born into this world we are born into sin and we are spiritually dead. Our soul is our mind, will, and emotions and before knowing Jesus we simply chase after the sinful desires that rage within us. Our choices made first take place in our minds and have a direct effect on our bodies. But from scripture we know that a man reaps what he sows and therefore if a servant of the Lord does anything that is contrary to the word of God or the leading of the Holy Spirit, it directly impacts their relationship with God.

Jesus told the disciples that He had to return to the Father. But they would not be left as orphans on this earth. Jesus said that the comforter would come, the Holy Spirit (John 16:5-15). Jesus on multiple occasions in this passage uses the word He when referring to the Holy Spirit. As Christians our conduct and lives are determined by the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit. God has given every person a freewill, but when we act against the leading of the Holy Spirit it becomes sin and it negatively impacts our relationship with God.

The vaccine presents an important decision for all believers. When asked about this by people, as a pastor I have advised believers to seek the Lord for direction and guidance. When a believer spends time in prayer and the Holy Spirit gives them direction when faced with a decision, if they are forced to make a decision that the Holy Spirit is calling them not to do or go in a certain direction, it infringes upon faith and practice. Those who do not know Christ as Lord and Savior will not understand an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit leads and guides us into all truth and will reveal the will of God for every decision in our lives.

A believer no matter the decision they are faced with must seek the leading and guidance of the Lord. If our bodies are indeed temples of the Holy Spirit and what we put into our bodies and do with our bodies directly impacts our relationship with God, then we can conclude if a born again Christian who is directed by the Holy Spirit to not get the vaccine than that individual should have sufficient grounds to reject said vaccine based on a religious exemption. Forcing an individual to take any substance that God is directing them not to is infringing upon their freedom of religion.