Before we answer your question, let’s define the word “karma.” The general definition of karma is: “the destiny that you earn through your actions and behavior.” And then there is the Hindu and Buddhist definition which is: “the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.”

As you can see, these two definitions are similar, for they both say that one’s destiny is determined by one’s actions. Yet the Hindu/Buddhist definition includes the thought of one having “PREVIOUS states of existence that decide their fate in FUTURE existences.” In other words, they believe in “reincarnation” which is “the rebirth of a soul in a new body.” I have personally met people who claim they have had many previous lives on earth. Does the Bible teach reincarnation? No! We read in Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men ONCE TO DIE, but after this the judgment.” God ordained that men DIE ONCE; they are not reborn into a new life with a new body here on earth, so the Hindu/Buddhist belief in reincarnation (and karma) contradicts the Bible and thus it is not true. Regarding the general definition of karma, I do believe a person’s actions and behavior affects their destiny (their destiny here on earth and their eternal destiny), but the Bible does not call this karma (for that word is not found in the Bible). There is one passage in the Bible that definitely teaches us this truth. Let’s read it and see what we can learn.

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for WHATEVER A MAN SOWS, THAT HE WILL ALSO REAP. For he who sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” (Galatians 6:7-8). This is, as another has said, a “fundamental principle of life.” Each person will decide, by his/her own actions, what they will “reap in life.” For example, if a man only lives to please himself (by seeking fame, fortune and pleasures), he is “sowing to the flesh” (the FLESH in Scripture is the fallen, sinful nature…see Galatians 5:19-21). That man will then “reap what he has sown”; in other words, he will “reap a harvest of corruption,” which simply means his actions will count for nothing and will bring him loss in this life and in the next. In this passage it is actually referring to believers in Christ (read verses 6-10). A believer who doesn’t allow the Holy Spirit to empower him to live a life that manifests Christ (see Galatians 5:22-25) will not experience the “joy of the Lord” on earth and he will lose out on eternal rewards when he stands before the Judgment Seat of Christ to have his life evaluated by the Lord Jesus Christ (see 2nd Corinthians 5:10 and 1st Corinthians 3:12-15).

But this principle (of “sowing and reaping”) also applies to unbelievers (those who have refused to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” for salvation). They do not have eternal life and the Holy Spirit living in them so they can only “sow to the flesh” (for all they have is the fallen, sinful nature…see Psalm 51:5 and John 3:6a) and they will “reap everlasting loss” in the lake of fire (see John 3:17-18, 36; Revelation 20:15). Before they die, they are constantly “sowing to the flesh” and “reaping corruption” in one form or another. We read of them in Job 4:8, “Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.” The prophet Hosea wrote of them in 8:7, “They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind.” We have countless examples of this in Scripture. One that has always struck me is a man named Haman in the book of Esther. He plotted the death of an innocent man named Mordecai (which included having the gallows built so he could be hanged) and yet we read in Esther 7:9-10, “Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, ‘Look!’ The gallows…which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman. Then the king said, ‘Hang him on it!’ so they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai.” Surely Haman got exactly what he deserved, for he had “sown to the flesh” and he “reaped corruption.” His ACTIONS determined his DESTINY!  (DO)  (530.3)