Reincarnation and Christianity

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Many on earth have a reincarnation based belief system.

From what I see, the bible does not support this doctrine, but teaches against this in principle.

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This is a discussion of how Reincarnation differs from Christianity. I am not advocating it.

I understand, however, that there are some who profess Christianity, and actually believe in this thought system.

This has to do with interpretation of scripture on a physical, vs. spiritual, level.

Because there are those who see themselves as Christians but believe in reincarnation, there may be some debate on this topic.

As always, I expect people to back up their statements with proper interpretation of scripture.

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Definitions

Reincarnation is believed to occur when the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, comes back to life in a newborn body. This doctrine is a central tenet within the majority of Indian religious traditions, such as Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism; the Buddhist concept of rebirth is also often referred to as reincarnation.

The idea was also fundamental to some Greek philosophers and religions as well as other religions, such as Druidism, and later on, Spiritism, and Eckankar. It is also found in many small-scale societies around the world, in places such as Siberia, West Africa, North America, and Australia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reincarnation

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The Egyptians also believed in reincarnation or the transmigration of the soul.

http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/r/reincarnation.html

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In this belief system, one can reincarnate as either a human or an animal, from what I understand.

Also, one’s current life is the result of past life mistakes coming back for restitution.

In other words, your current life is the punishment or reward for past lives.

Judgment does not occur in heaven or hell. It occurs in the next physical life.

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Pre-existence

In this belief system, Jesus is a Divine Master who incarnated many times, and achieved perfection finally in his last incarnation.

He is to return, and live out a life as a human again and get married.

This would also imply that there is a woman somewhere who is just as divine as Jesus, for her to be a perfect match for Him.

This is just not true.

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Jesus never existed on earth in the physical form of a human living out his life.

He did come as a spirit a few times, but he did not incarnate.

This is because the pre-existence of Jesus was heavenly, in glory, and not of the earth.

If you look closely at John 3, you will see that is not a physical rebirth, but a spiritual one.

Jhn 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Jhn 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old?

can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

Jhn 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Jhn 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Also in Hebrews, it says that we only die once, indicating then, that we can only live once as well.

This refutes the doctrine of reincarnation, which holds that we are born, die, and reborn repeatedly, until we achieve perfection:

Hbr 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

There are no passages in scripture that suggest people live multiple lifetimes.

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Divinity of Jesus

Reincarnation refers to the constant effort of humans to achieve a godlike character by multiple lifetime efforts.

Jesus is the son of God, and is divine. He already has a godlike character, and He has been this way from before the beginning of time.

He therefore does not need to endlessly incarnate to achieve perfection. He was and is already perfect from the beginning, meaning in eternity.

Luk 1:35   And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Mat 26:63   But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.

Mat 26:64   Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said [it]: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Mat 8:29   And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

Jesus is the son of God, and by him, and through him, we can become sons of God as well.

Jhn 1:11   He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Jhn 1:12   But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:

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Works

We have to realize, that on our own, we will never reach perfection, even after a million life times.

It is only through the atonement of Jesus on the cross, that we can be saved, and be “perfect enough” to be worthy of heaven.

It is not our works, or our life, that has value. Even the most righteous person fails on a daily basis.

2Ti 1:9   Who hath saved us, and called [us] with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Tts 3:5   Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

It is the works of Jesus, while we repent of our sins, and accept his forgiveness, that merits heaven.

Reincarnation is man’s attempt to endlessly be “reborn” until he achieves godhood. The bible says there is ONLY one God.

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The Bride

The bride of Christ is the Church, or body of believers, not a single woman

Rev 21:9 ¶ And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

Rev 22:14 Blessed [are] they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Rev 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, [and] the bright and morning star.

Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

The true bride of Christ is the one covered by the blood of Jesus who gave his life for it.

One day, He will come and call up his bride into heaven for the marriage supper of the Lamb.

This marriage will occur in heaven, not on earth. It is the marriage of Christ with his saints, who will make up the heavenly city.

Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

** notice that the “she” who is the bride is actually plural, because she = the saints.

Rev 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed [are] they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Rev 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See [thou do it] not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

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Born Again

So, the only way to be “born again,” according to Jesus, is to be reborn spiritually.

This involves casting away a life of sin, expressing true sorrow, and asking for forgiveness from God.

Mat 4:17   From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Then we ask that the punishment we deserve for our sins be covered by the blood atonement Jesus made for our sins.

Only the sacrifice of Jesus is acceptable to wipe away our sins, and make us perfect before God. He spoke of this at the last supper:

Mat 26:26 ¶ And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed [it], and brake [it], and gave [it] to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

Mat 26:27   And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave [it] to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

Mat 26:28   For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

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Final note

Jesus did not live and die for any other reason than to save us, to open the door of eternal forgiveness, and to make us perfect before God by his holiness, self sacrificial love, and righteousness.

We cannot achieve this ourselves, because we are unable to present a sinless sacrifice, like Jesus did.

Only a sinless person can approach the throne of God.

Only Jesus qualifies, as a holy and divine being, as mediator for us, who are not worthy.

While the doctrine offers an interesting, but false hope of achieving ascension or final perfection, it is really a doctrine of despair.

The thought having to endure the trials of this life in an almost endless fashion, trying to achieve “godhood” is futile and depressing.

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The evil in this world is more than sufficient for just one life.

To endure this constant evil repeatedly, while trying to overcome it, is unrealistic, and horrible.

And to also condemn oneself as being responsible for the hardships one is born into due to a past life is unfair and cruel.

The evils in this life are due to Satan’s work, not a past life.

Reincarnation passes the blame for evil from Satan to the innocent, new born child.

A just God would never allow this.

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Only God can overcome evil perfectly.

I hope this is more clear now.