Strong majorities believe in some form of life after death. But what form of an afterlife varies greatly. Some think that you become a ghost caught between this world & the next. Evil ghosts haunt while benevolent ones guide. They believe they may even contact ghosts through seances, mediums, & Ouija boards. Some like to think that we become angels. Another popular view is that our souls are recycled into different bodies through reincarnation. Though standard belief in much of Eastern religion (like Hinduism & Buddhism), up to 1/3rd of Americans now believe it too.
Mark’s Gospel tells how Jesus was confronted by the Sadducees, a small but powerful Jewish religious sect who did not believe in life after death or angels or spirits. In order to show the absurdity of life after death, they’d developed a straw man argument based on the ancient custom that if a married man died, his brother would then marry the widow in order to preserve the family name & inheritance. The smug “gotcha” argument was this: “There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, & when he died left no offspring. And the second took her, & died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife” (Mark 12:20-23).
What would happen to the woman? First of all, she should probably be investigated, because having seven husbands die is pretty suspicious! But Jesus told them they’re wrong because they ignored both the Scriptures & God’s power. There’s no marriage in the afterlife! He pointed out that in Exodus, God said, “‘I am the God of Abraham, & the God of Isaac, & the God of Jacob’?’ He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” (Mark 12:24-27)! He points simply to the present tense verb–it’s “I am,” not “I was.” He is the God only of those alive–both in the physical & spiritual dimensions.
What else had the Sadducees ignored? Enoch & Elijah went straight to Heaven (Gen. 5:24; 2 Kings 2:11). Samuel appeared to Saul after death (1 Sam. 28:12-19). Elijah & Elisha both resurrected children, while Elisha’s corpse brought another man’s corpse to life when they touched (1 Kings 17:22; 2 Kings 4:35; 13:21). Consider also Job’s classic confession of hope: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, & at the last he will stand upon the earth” (19:25). David, speaking of his dead child: “I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”” (2 Sam. 12:23).
David also declares, “God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol [the grave or place of the dead], for he will receive me” (Ps. 49:15). He prophetically looked ahead to the resurrection of the Messiah: “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption” (Ps. 16:10). Solomon revealed that “the dust returns to the earth as it was, & the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Ecc. 12:7). And Daniel foretells: “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, & some to shame & everlasting contempt” (12:2).
While these ancient liberals had trouble believing in the spiritual world, today’s postmoderns quickly embrace all kinds of beliefs in spiritualism. But the Bible condemns anyone who claims to be able to consult with the dead (Deut. 18:10-12). Though New Agers claim to be in contact with benevolent “spirit guides,” Christians understand that such a claim is really old age occultic practice. We’re to stay away from such divination, which opens a doorway to demons. Former spiritualist turned Christian, Ben Alexander, warns, “Spiritualism is real; it is a tool used by Satan to delude & captivate people’s souls.”
Jesus spoke of 2 men in the afterlife–one in Paradise & one in torment. When the one in torment wanted to go back to warn his family, Abraham in Paradise told him that no one may cross that chasm back (Luke 16:26). There are no second chances after death.
So why the popularity of second-chance views like reincarnation? Many people long for immortality minus the God who says we’ll have to stand before Him & give an account. Reincarnation, using the concept of Karma, offers the chance to progress to Godhood, with the goal of perfection. Essentially, you keep coming back to be a better & better person until you save yourself through a perfect life, & are freed from reincarnation, to join with “ultimate reality,” merging with God (an impersonal divine energy).
Yet the Bible teaches we live once, die once, & then face the Lord (Heb. 9:27, 28). It’s sad that even in the Church, some still feel condemned & unworthy even though they’ve accepted Christ as Savior. They still feel like they need to keep coming back to pay for their sins by their own efforts, or by going to purgatory for a while to purge away their sins. Jesus says you must be born again–but only once spiritually, not over & over physically. If we could save ourselves through reincarnation, Christ died for nothing!
Christ’s death & resurrection are the final proof & guarantee that, even though the physical body decays or is destroyed, God is still able to renew & transform it into a glorified body (1 Cor. 15:42-44). Instead of anxiety about the afterlife, we’re given the assurance of our destiny (2 Cor. 5:8-10). Only Jesus removes the fear of death & satisfies the desire for immortality, so God’s people can “Rest In Peace” now & forever.