10: Final Conclusion on Biblical Reincarnation

1.     The type of reincarnation believed in Hindu, Buddhist, and other religions is decidedly unbiblical. It is possible that reincarnation is a means by which God sanctifies His people as shown in the person of Jesus, similar to the Catholic doctrine of purgatory. If universal reincarnation exists, the gospel message of grace and justification by faith does not change. The New Testament is clear that any Christian, upon death, goes to be immediately with Jesus in heaven. When Jesus returns at the rebirth, or renewal, of all things, those individuals will be resurrected – possibly, given the biblical context, through reincarnation (Matthew 19:27-29). Perhaps God will use this corporate reincarnation as a final “purification” for the Church, akin to the Catholic doctrine of purgatory.

2.         God may use reincarnation to give the lost multiple opportunities to be saved, given that He used reincarnation to purify Jesus and give him the opportunity to be the savior of the world. God is all about everyone being saved (1 Timothy 2:4), so this action, though not explicitly stated in Scripture, is consistent with His character. The Bible nowhere contradicts this. If God does not use this method, He will use other methods to ensure universal salvation given He is committed to universal salvation. 

3.     While the Bible is largely silent on the topic of reincarnation, reincarnation is at least evidenced in the person of Elijah and of Jesus, who was the reincarnation of David and lived a past life as Adam. I think reincarnation is the most straightforward and logical conclusion to the passages describing the connections between Elijah and John the Baptist, Jesus and David and Adam. Further, 1 Timothy 2:10-15 indicates that Eve will also be reincarnated when Jesus, the new Adam, returns.

4.     Aside from these 3 individuals, God does not provide a clear theology of whether universal reincarnation exists in the Bible. Clearly, God did not want people to focus on reincarnation.  The Bible is clear that faith in Christ and belief in the gospel save, not our “good works”, declaring Christians righteous and reconciled with the Father. In this way, Christian reincarnation is very different than the Eastern religions where reincarnation is all about achieving salvation through good works.

5.     God gave amazing grace to Adam, in the person of Jesus, to be who he was created to be and right his wrong in the garden. Jesus is the judge. Perhaps given his past, he will be a more gracious judge of humanity than Christians expect.

6. God does not show favoritism (Romans 2:11). If he treated Adam, the man responsible for the fall, with such love, grace, and care, not giving up on him and elevating him to be King of kings, He will treat, and is treating, all of us the same way, even if we do not see it yet. God is redeeming and restoring our stories just like He did for Adam. God may use reincarnation to do this.

7. It is possible, given reincarnation’s existence, that God uses reincarnation as a means by which He sanctifies His people (akin to the idea of purgatory) and judges those who do not know Him with temporal punishments (as described in section 3 of this blog, "Universal Salvation"). The Bible is not explicit on this, but it is certainly a viable possibility. In such a way, in summary, God could use reincarnation as the means by which He sanctifies His people, judges sinners, and gives multiple chances for people to accept the gospel of Jesus. It should be noted that if this is true, no one can or should judge others based on their life circumstances. As mentioned in the introduction, God’s “reincarnation” would be done by infinite love and wisdom, which biblically means God allows suffering for multiple purposes besides judgment. Suffering does not equal judgment, though it could be judgment. This is affirmed in multiple ways throughout the Bible in the persons of, for example, Job, whose suffering was not judgment, and the people of Israel, whose suffering often was a result of God’s judgment. We are unwise to try to understand God’s ways here and truly unable to given we are not God. We can simply trust He is both loving and wise. All this being said, God could of course be accomplishing His justice, sanctification, and universal salvation apart from reincarnation in ways we do not know or understand. Ultimately, we can just trust that He is moving in justice, love, and wisdom to save all.

Therefore, I believe reincarnation is biblical and may be universal. This is most clearly seen in the life of Jesus, who had past lives as Adam and David.