SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION? Reincarnation maintains that humans evolve spiritually. The assumption is that when a human dies, their spirit goes through a process of consciousness in which they come back as a plant, animal, insect, or some other form of life. But from the Bible’s perspective is there a place for this ideology or teaching?

This series addresses the concerns we all have: the concern for sin, evil, death, dying, and what happens after we die. Is there hope after death? When God created us, humans, he intended for us to live forever in a loving, peaceful relationship with him. But this relationship has been broken by sin.

Here, we address the origin of sin and look more closely at death and dying.

But, instead of looking at death negatively, we look at it in the context of hope, the promised hope based on what Jesus did for us when he died and came back to life again. 

From the Sabbath School Adult Bible Study Guide 2022 Quarter 4: Sabbath.School (See also Hope Sabbath School and 3ABN Sabbath School)

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Inviting God’s Presence

Holy Father, we thank you for Jesus because of him; we have no reason to boast, for it is by grace that we are saved through faith in Him and not by our works. Therefore, let it be our aim to put away spiritual pride. In Jesus’ Name Amen

In ancient times, pagans were those who worshipped many gods.  Pagans worship nature, planets, and animals. Many of these beliefs have been adopted into some modern religions. One of those beliefs is the idea that a person’s soul continues living after his or her body dies.

Even the idea that when a person dies, their soul goes to heaven or hell to live eternally in heavenly bliss or go to hell to be tormented eternally in hell fire is adopted from paganism.

 Within the pagan belief is the idea of reincarnation.  Reincarnation maintains that the souls of humans go through many cycles of death and rebirth here on earth.

Some believe that reincarnation is a process of spiritual evolution. They maintain that all life came from slow changes that happened over a very long time. Thus, they believe that reincarnation is a way for a person’s soul to attain ever greater levels of knowledge and morality in its journey toward perfection.

For instance, the Hindu religion believes that the soul goes through a progression of consciousness consisting of six classes of life. The lowest level is (1) life from the sea. The next level is (2) plants; (3) than reptiles and insects; (4) followed by birds; (5) then animals; and, finally, (6) the highest-level humans, who eventually become residents of heaven. 

This teaching is a form of spiritualism.

Spiritualism teaches “that man is the creature of progression; that it is his destiny from his birth to progress, even to eternity, toward the Godhead.” And again: “Each mind will judge itself and not another.” “The judgment will be right, because it is the judgment of self. . . . The throne is within you.” Said a spiritualistic teacher, as the “spiritual consciousness” awoke within him: “My fellow men, all were unfallen demigods.” And another declares: “Any just and perfect being is Christ.”

Thus, in place of the righteousness and perfection of the infinite God, the true object of adoration; in place of the perfect righteousness of His law, the true standard of human attainment, Satan has substituted the sinful, erring nature of man himself as the only object of adoration, the only rule of judgment, or standard of character. 

This is progress, not upward, but downward.—The Great Controversy, p. 554.

Therefore, though it may be attractive for some, for those that believe in the teachings of the Bible, this belief is contradictory. It does not align with what the Bible teaches. For in Hebrews 9:25–28 we find that Jesus only died once. 

Hebrews 9:25-28

25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—

26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,

28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. (Hebrews 9:25-28)

Not only do we discover that Jesus died once, 1 Peter 3:18 lets us know that, like Jesus, we humans only die once.

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, (I Peter 3:18)

Yet, some Christians believe in reincarnation. As we have already learned, reincarnation is the false idea that a person’s soul never dies but comes back many times on this earth.

The issue is that God has given us the freedom to choose what we believe. Thus, we have the choice to adopt pagan ideologies that are contrary to what the Bible says, or we can allow the Bible to be our rule for measuring any other belief and reject that which is contrary to what is written in the Bible.  

 But many people believe not in what the Bible says, but in what they want to believe. So, if a belief brings them feelings of peace and comfort, that is enough for them. But if you take the Bible seriously, there is no way to accept the idea of reincarnation.

Here are five reasons why:

(1) Reincarnation goes against the Bible’s teaching on the mortality of the soul.  That is that the body dies and is at rest unconsciously in the grave until  God comes and wakes up the dead at Jesus’ Second Coming as in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18. 

13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.

16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. (I Thessalonians 4:13-18)

(2) Reincarnation teaches that we are saved by our good behavior and that we don’t need Jesus to save us. It negates the idea that we are saved by grace through faith in what Jesus did to save us according to Ephesians 2:8–10.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

(3) Reincarnation goes against the Bible’s teaching that we choose to accept or reject the gift of everlasting life by the decisions we make in this life. It is opposed to the idea that one’s eternal destiny is decided forever by one’s decisions in this life, as in the stories Jesus told about the Wedding Garment in Matthew 22:1–14, and the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25:31–46.

(4) Reincarnation downplays the significance and importance of Jesus’ Second Coming, which Jesus tells us in John 14:1–3.

1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.

2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:1-3)

(5) Contrary to what the Bible says, in Hebrews 9:27, reincarnation indicates that you get more chances after you die to correct your mistakes in another life. 

Hebrews 9:27

27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, (Hebrews 9:27)

These are five reasons why we Bible believers can’t accept reincarnation. The point is that the idea of reincarnation has no place in the Christian faith.

Nor should the practice of necromancy, that is black magic or black art, and ancestral worship. What is wrong with necromancy and ancestral worship? Find out tomorrow, Day 5: Necromancy and Ancestor Worship

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