A close friend once posted on social media: “Change is necessary for a better life. The same things will happen repeatedly until you learn this law. This is karma’s way of telling you that you have a lesson to learn before change will occur.
What caught my attention was not the advice but the word karma. How does karma fit into a Christian worldview?
Karma, from the Sanskrit word for “deed,” “action,” or “work,” is a foundational concept in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Shintoism, and Taoism. It is not merely about punishment or reward; it is the belief that every action—good or bad—creates consequences that shape one’s future, even across lifetimes.
German scholar Wilhelm Halbfass explains karma by contrasting it with another Sanskrit term, kriya. While kriya refers to the activity and effort involved in an action, karma refers to the executed act and its moral weight.
As Wikipedia puts it: “A good action creates good karma, as does good intent. A bad action creates bad karma, as does bad intent.”
In the Philippines, karma has a local cousin: gaba. Cebuano speakers often use gaba to describe misfortune that befalls someone because of wrongdoing. It is not exactly a curse—Cebuano has another word, tunglo, for that. Rather, gaba is seen as a natural consequence, a kind of moral boomerang.
Lillian C. Garcia of the University of San Carlos notes that gaba is understood as “divine retribution” or a “law of nature” that strikes without anyone uttering a curse. It is karma in Bisayan clothing.
The Philippines is the only predominantly Christian country in Asia. Yet many Filipinos casually use the word karma, often in the same breath as Christian teachings. Why?
Perhaps because the idea that “what goes around comes around” feels intuitive. It resonates with our sense of justice. It also echoes certain biblical teachings.
Mary Jo Meadow, a scholar of comparative religion, argues that karma is somewhat akin to Christian notions of sin and its effects. She notes that the Christian teaching on the Last Judgement—where each person is judged according to their charity—resembles a final reckoning of one’s actions.
Indeed, Scripture teaches moral causality: “A man reaps what he sows.” (Galatians 6:7) and “Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52)
These verses sound karmic. But Christian scholars emphasize a crucial difference: karma is an ongoing process that unfolds daily, while the Last Judgement is a one-time divine review at the end of life.
Another major difference lies in what happens after death. Karma is inseparable from reincarnation—the belief that the soul is reborn repeatedly until it achieves liberation.
Pastor Jeff Shirley, author of Are Karma and Christianity Compatible?, explains: “Since every action must be rewarded and most do not get fully compensated in this lifetime, it makes it a necessity for a person to return again and again to satisfy the karma that is coming to them.”
Christianity, however, teaches resurrection, not reincarnation. Human beings live once, die once, and face judgement once. Hebrews 9:27 states: “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement.”
There are no multiple lifetimes to correct mistakes. No returning as an animal or another person. No endless cycle of rebirth. Christianity insists on the uniqueness and sacredness of each human life.
If karma is not Christian, why do many Christians still use the term? Perhaps because Christianity has its own version of moral causality: the law of the harvest.
Shirley explains that God built into creation a moral and spiritual law that mirrors agricultural reality: You reap what you sow (plant apples, get apples. Plant thorns, get thorns), you reap more than you sow (one seed produces many fruits), you reap in proportion to what you sow (sow sparingly, reap sparingly), and you reap later than you sow (harvest takes time).
These principles resemble karma, but with one key distinction: the law of the harvest is governed by God, not by an impersonal cosmic force.
This is where Christianity draws a firm line. Karma operates automatically, impersonally, mechanically. It does not forgive. It does not show mercy. It does not intervene. It simply reacts.
Christianity teaches the opposite. God is personal. God forgives. God intervenes. God shows mercy. God can override consequences. God can transform a sinner into a saint. Grace, not karma, is the heart of Christian faith.
If karma says, “You get what you deserve,” Christianity says, “You get more than you deserve—because God is good.” If karma says, “Your past controls your future,” Christianity says, “Your future is redeemed by Christ.” If karma says, “You must pay for every wrong,” Christianity says, “Christ has already paid.” And if karma says, “Change comes only after suffering,” Christianity says, “Change comes through grace.”
In a world where people long for justice, karma offers a simple explanation. But Christianity offers something deeper: justice with mercy, consequences with compassion, and judgement with love.
—###
