What Does The Bible Say About Reincarnation?

Is the Bible silent on reincarnation? What does the Bible say about it?

The Incarnation

Before we get to whether reincarnation is biblical or not, we should first look at the incarnation of God in the Person of Jesus Christ. The Apostle John wrote “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1) and explains why He came, writing that “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:11-13). Jesus came to redeem those who were cut off from God by their sins (Isaiah 59:2) and to take upon Himself the wrath of God so that we might be saved and be adopted as the children of God (Eph 1). The incarnation of the Son of God was when “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14) and so John wrote that it was He “which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us” (1st John 1:1-2). Has He been made manifest to you?

One Way Trip

Does the Bible say that we have a second chance to get it right? I have found nothing in Scripture to indicate that. In fact, there are multiple dozens of Scriptures that say just the opposite. The Bible describes this life is a one-way trip. You’ve get one life to live and then at Christ’s appearance, the judgment comes. If you are in Christ, your sins have already been judged, but for those who reject Christ, they have God’s wrath abiding on them (John 3:36b) and it’s only a matter of time before God pours out His wrath upon them because all they are doing is “storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Rom 2:5), even though it grieves me to quote that. The other scenario is if Christ doesn’t return in their lifetime, then their judgment comes after death, just as the author of Hebrews writes, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Heb 9:27). “Once” in any language means “once” or one time and that’s it!

An Appointed Day

The Bible says we have one life and then judgment. There is absolutely no room for anyone to claim that the Bible teaches that there is a reincarnation of a person into another or as the definition of reincarnation says; it’s the philosophical concept that the soul or spirit can begin a new life in a new body after death. If a person is born again by the Spirit of God, they will receive eternal life and made complete at the day of Jesus visitation but the believer isn’t born into a new body but their very own. It won’t be a reincarnation into a new body but into a glorified body when Christ returns (Dan 12:3) and nothing today can compare with what is to come (Rom 8:18). Job says of all humanity that “Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass” (Job 14:5). When contrasted with the eternality of God, “you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah” (Psalm 39:5) so he prayed “teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).

Today is the Day

Today counts forever. Really, today counts for eternity because if you reject Jesus Christ today, you are gambling with your eternal destiny. No man or woman knows the day of their death. Human life is fragile. The statistics on death are pretty impressive. You, nor do I even know if we’ll live past today, “For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them” (Eccl 9:12). James writes about “you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:13-14). His point may have been “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring” (Prov 27:1).

Conclusion

The best thing I can tell you right now is don’t reject Jesus Christ. Repent and believe in Him today and you can be assured of your eternal destiny (Rev 22). Paul writes “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2nd Cor 6:2b) for tomorrow may not be favorable because you may not even be alive. Tomorrow may never come. There is no guarantee except that which is brought through repentance and belief in Christ (Mark 1:15). There is simply no other way (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.