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John the Baptist was asked by the Jewish leaders, "Are you Elijah?" The answer of John could not be plainer. He said, "I am not" (Jn. 1:21). John the Baptist was not Elijah reincarnated. What Jesus meant is that John the Baptist was like Elijah. Someone like Elijah was supposed to come and that someone was John. Elijah and John were both prophets. They both spent time alone in the desert. They both preached repentance and were persecuted by hostile government rulers. The two men wore similar clothing. John and Elijah were similar, but not the same person. That this is what Jesus meant rather than teaching reincarnation is certainly the case if we will examine the prediction made about John before his birth. It was foretold that "he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Lk. 1:17). The two men were similar, but they were not the same person.
There is no evidence in the Bible for reincarnation and the law of karma. Not only does the Bible not teach this, there are passages in the Bible which teach contradictory to reincarnation. One example is John 9:1-3.
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him.
If Jesus had believed in reincarnation and the law of karma, he would have answered entirely differently. He would have said the man was born blind because of sins he had committed in his past life. Jesus clearly denied such a possibility, though. As the story progresses, Jesus heals this man of his blindness. If Jesus believed in reincarnation and the law of karma, he would not have done this. This man should have been left blind so that he would receive his just punishment for his sins. It is manifest, then, that Jesus Christ did not believe in reincarnation.
Finally there is one extremely clear statement in the Bible which shows that the Christian faith is not compatible with a belief in reincarnation. In the New Testament we read, "It is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgement" (Heb. 9:27). According to this verse, how many deaths do we die? Only one. According to the transmigration of souls we die many times, are reborn many times, and suffer for our sins many times in many lives. The Bible, though, says we live one life and die once and then face God in judgement. As Jesus said, "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgement" (Jn. 5:29).
