Reincarnation or Resurrection?

The Wheel of Karma

What is reincarnation? It's the belief that after a person dies, his or her soul will inhabit a new body. And, according to this belief, the human soul is immortal and can inhabit several bodies over the course of time.

Where does reincarnation come from? It comes from the eastern religions, specifically Hinduism that teaches that souls must continually reenter the so-called Wheel of Karma to be reincarnated until they achieve perfection. According to this teaching, a person who commits a crime such as robbery or murder in this life must come back in another life and become the victim of a robbery or a murder in order to atone for the transgression.

As you can see, such a system--if it's true--perpetuates evil rather than solves it. Why? Because those who commit a transgression in their current life must become the victim of the same transgression in their following life, committed by a perpetrator who will then have to become the victim of that transgression in their next life.

Is reincarnation biblical? Of course it isn't. The Bible clearly teaches that we are given only one life to live on this planet and no more. We don't get a second or multiple chances to get right with God after death. (Hebrews 9:27) Those who die in their sins outside of Jesus Christ are consigned to hell to await God's final judgment. 

The Bible teaches us that on Judgment Day, the righteous will be resurrected by Christ to inhabit new, immortal bodies that will never grow old, get sick, decay or die. (Isaiah 26:19, Daniel 12:2, Luke 14:14, John 6:40) However, the unrighteous will be raised by God to face eternal damnation for committing evil. Though millions of people will plead with God on that day to give them another chance, it'll be too late. They'll be doomed.

If reincarnation is true then why did God institute the sacrificial system for sin under the terms of the Mosaic Covenant? That system mandated that the blood of animals such as bulls, goats and rams be sacrificed in order to cover the sins of the ancient Israelites. The Bible clearly says that "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)

Certainly, the system of animal sacrifice was temporary and insufficient. It was put in place until God's Son Jesus Christ came into the world to become the final and everlasting sacrifice for all sin by His death on Calvary's cross. The Bible says this: "Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest (Jesus Christ) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." (Hebrews 10:11-14)

For nearly 2,000 years, the Christian church believed that message. And for good reason, because that message was backed by the factual evidence of Christ's resurrection from the dead. However, in recent decades, more and more Christians have begun to doubt the Bible in favor of pagan myths such as reincarnation.

Though no recent polls have been conducted, a Gallup poll taken in 1999 reported 20 percent of professing Christians claimed to believe in reincarnation. That means two of every 10 Christians embraced an unbiblical pagan religious belief 16 years ago. That figure's probably much higher today.

One man who professes to be a Christian, wrote this: Many Christians have the misconception that the concept of reincarnation holds that, at the time of death, people reincarnate immediately and do not have any experiences in the spirit realms in between Earth lives. Near-death experiences prove this misconception to be untrue. Because time does not exist in the spirit world, a person can spend an "eternity" in the spirit realms, if they wish to do so, and have the freedom to decide if they want to reincarnate or not. The ultimate goal of reincarnation is to learn enough lessons from Earth lives that reincarnation is no longer necessary.

Reincarnation is a demonic lie. It's a myth, and an extremely dangerous one. It's designed to give people the false hope that if they live bad lives punctuated by decadence and immorality, they'll be given another chance or chances to get it right. But they won't. Concerning Satan's lies, the apostle Paul wrote this: "The (Holy) Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." (1 Timothy 4:1)

It's understandable that the world would embrace such a pagan myth. But professing Christians? That's a tragedy. It proves just how badly the church has been straying from the Bible in the times we're living in.

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.