Reincarnation or Resurrection?

The Wheel of Karma

You'd be shocked at how many professing Christians actually believe in reincarnation. What is reincarnation? It's the pagan religious belief that the spirits of human beings can occupy several bodies during countless lifetimes.

Hinduism teaches that human souls can even be reincarnated into insects, birds and animals. For what purpose? To allegedly atone for transgressions committed in previous lifetimes.

Although reincarnation is commonly associated with pagan eastern religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism, it's also taught in monotheistic religions such as Judaism. The rabbis believe that God sends departed souls back to new bodies in order to get right what they got wrong in previous lives.

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a Talmudic scholar and Sephardic rabbi who died in 2013, claimed that the Jews who perished in the Holocaust actually brought that on themselves. He stated that they were reincarnated in order to be punished for sins committed in past lives.

Here's what he said in a sermon he preached during the summer of 2000: "The six million Holocaust victims were reincarnations of the souls of sinners, people who transgressed and did all sorts of things which should not be done. They had been reincarnated in order to atone."

http://www.timesofisrael.com/5-of-ovadia-yosefs-most-controversial-quotations  

Though many people condemned Yosef for his outrageous comments, he merely repeated a concept that Orthodox Judaism has taught for centuries. Though reincarnation can't be found anywhere in either of the Bible's testaments, the Orthodox Jews embrace it as divine truth. And it isn't--it's a demonic lie.

Reincarnation contradicts the Bible's mandate that innocent blood must be shed in order to atone for sin: "In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." (Hebrews 9:22)

If sin can be dealt with via reincarnation, then the whole sacrificial system for sin instituted by God through Moses was a complete farce and done in vain. The purpose of that system was to provide atonement for sins committed in this life only. Concerning the one and only life we are given, the Bible says that "people are destined to die once and then to face judgment..." (Hebrews 9:27)

If people are destined to die once and then face judgment, then they don't get a second chance. That's why Jesus Christ came into this world in the form of a humble man so he could provide the ultimate sacrifice for sin "once for all" (Hebrews 9:26) on the cross that the blood of animals never could provide. 

Those who reject Christ die in their sins and are cast into hell where they will be confined until Christ returns to judge them. 

Rather than reincarnation, the Bible teaches resurrection. If reincarnation is true, then resurrection makes no sense because who would the dead be raised as if they were incarnated multiple times? 

Concerning the resurrection, of which Christ was first to be raised, the apostle Paul said this: "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he 'has put everything under his feet.' Now when it says that 'everything' has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all." (1 Corinthians 15:20-28)

There's absolute evidence for resurrection. That evidence is Jesus Christ who rose from the dead and was seen by over 500 eyewitnesses before He returned to heaven. Not all of those witnesses were His followers. And yet they attested to His resurrection.

But there's no evidence for reincarnation. That's a lie. Those who stubbornly reject the truth and embrace reincarnation are going to be shocked when they reach eternity. They won't be coming back. And if they meet up with Rabbi Yosef down under, he'll undoubtedly concur.