SPELLING EDITED I recently came across a Christian website that is teaching that the doctrine of reincarnation has been lost to Christianity. I was actually searching for information on the 7000-year plan of God when I came upon this Christian’s website that had many articles on reincarnation. And by many articles, I mean that it was about half of that website's INFORMATION were entertaining the idea of reincarnation. In other words, many of the articles that I came across on this particular subject were trying prove that the Bible itself teaches reincarnation. And my first thought was “WHY is a Christian website teaching reincarnation?” So I went ahead and read a few of the articles on those websites to see what verses of Scripture were being used to make the claim that the Bible ITSELF teaches reincarnation. I found that they are all basically using the resurrection as being the same thing as reincarnation. Now, if you know anything at all about reincarnation, then you know that reincarnation teaches that people keep coming back into the world after they die over and over again and again. They are “reincarnated” into a new body. And that body can be ANY living thing such and an animal or even an insect. So the resurrection taught in the Bible is NOT reincarnation! There are FIVE resurrections spoken of in the Bible. #1. The resurrection of a person who dies AGAIN. In this type of resurrection a person dies and then comes back to life in their OWN SELF-SAME body. Then they live for the rest of their own natural mortal life. This type of resurrection is RARE when you consider the number of people compared to how many people have experienced this type of resurrection. Also, it usually only happens ONE time. I myself have never heard of any person experiencing this type of resurrection more than just ONE time. So then, this type of resurrection found in the Bible does NOT teach reincarnation! People can twist any verse of Scripture to DECEIVE other people but that does NOT mean that their deceptive teaching is true. #2. The resurrection of Jesus. Jesus is the ONLY person, thus far, to ever be resurrected never to die again. Yes, Jesus was given a new glorified immortal body of flesh and bones but for all practical reasons, it was still his OWN body. In other words, Jesus was not resurrected in ANOTHER person's body. Jesus did NOT become a different person. Jesus is STILL Jesus. So then, the resurrection of Jesus does NOT teach reincarnation. #3. The resurrection of the saints of the Old Testament. When Jesus was raised from the dead, many bodies were resurrected with him. Some Christians say that they simply lived out their lives and died again. But I believe that they were souls of the saints of the Old Testament time that Jesus preached the gospel to while he was in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. Please read the study “WHAT AND WHERE IS PARADISE?” Now, one of the MAIN arguments as to why this brother on that reincarnation website teaches reincarnation is that he has never heard a good explanation of how those good righteous people in the Old Testament can be saved since the ONLY way to be saved is by faith in the name of Jesus. By the way, he also believes that almost every human being who has ever lived with be saved. And the WAY they will be saved, according to him, is by way of being reincarnated over and over again and again until they become righteous enough. Anyway, my point right now is that this resurrection of the Old Testament saints is NOT reincarnation either. For you see, their souls are in heaven under the altar AWAITING their new glorified immortal body as Jesus has now. We, as Christians, do not receive our new immortal glorified bodies until the second coming of Jesus. #4. The FIRST resurrection AT the coming of Jesus. There are two and only two resurrections in the future except for the first type of resurrection under #1 where a person dies again. The FIRST resurrection will take place BEFORE the 1000 year reign of Jesus AT the second coming of Jesus. This event is also called the RAPTURE of the church. This FIRST resurrection is ONLY for those who are IN Jesus Christ. And those IN Jesus Christ will be given new immortal bodies in that first resurrection. That means that we shall NEVER die again. So then, this resurrection does NOT teach a reincarnation either. That only leaves one last resurrection which takes place after the 1000 year reign of Jesus has ended. #5. The resurrection for the REST of the dead. In the last and final resurrection for the REST of the dead, there will be TWO types of people resurrected. There will be people who will be accounted WORTHY. And there will be people whose names have been BLOTTED OUT of the book of life. And those whose names are NOT FOUND in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire to be destroyed both body and SOUL never to rise again. And those resurrected in this FINAL resurrection who are found in the book of life will NOT be cast into the lake of fire to be destroyed. So this final resurrect is also NOT a description of the teaching of reincarnation as well. This means that NONE of the resurrections spoken of in the Bible fit the description of being reincarnated. To me, the only resurrection that even remotely gives a person a second chance to turn their life around to live God’s way is the resurrection under #1. The resurrection where a person DIES again. For you see, it is true that SOME of the rare numbers of people who have experienced this type of resurrection have, indeed, turned their life around to live a righteous life. But even fewer of them have actually received Jesus as their Savior. Rather, they simply became better people. And simply being a good person is NOT what the Bible teaches as being a SAVED person. If you do not KNOW that you are saved but you are HOPING to be saved then I implore you to read the studies in the heading >>>“WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?”<<<. And if you believe in reincarnation as your hope of attaining the higher plain in another life, then I implore you to read those same studies on how to be saved. The Bible makes it BLATANTLY clear that God gave mankind only ONE NAME by which we all MUST be saved. And WHOSOEVER that does NOT believe this TRUTH will REMAIN dead in their sins and they will NOT receive eternal life in the world to come. Now, this may sound harsh to some people but that is what the Bible itself teaches. And the one who inspired the Bible to be written is the one who DECIDES who is worthy of eternal life. So, if you want to receive eternal life in the world to come AND escape being cast into the lake of fire on the Day of Judgment then READ the New Testament of the Bible. I have been told by my readers that I make things simple and easy to understand. So again, I implore you to read the studies that I have written that explain in detail what the Bible teaches in SIMPLICITY. There are a lot of false teachings and false religions in the world. There are even false teachings by Christians as well. So always read the Bible and ask the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you into all truth as you are reading the teachings of others, including my teachings as well. I have spent a lot of time in prayer and studying the word of God for myself. And I do not post any of my teachings until I know in my heart that they AGREE will all of the verses in the Bible. Thanks for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the truth of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, Brother Mark. RETURN TO HOMEPAGE AT |
|
|