Under the Law to Christ in a World of Mammon

Written on 14 August 2026.

Under the Law to Christ in a World of Mammon

The King James Bible describes the Christian as free from certain worldly and legal structures while nevertheless not being without a governing law. Paul expresses this distinction clearly in 1 Corinthians 9:

19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.

20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;

21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

— 1 Corinthians 9:19–22, KJV

The important qualification is contained inside Paul's statement: even when he becomes "as without law" to those who are without law, he is not therefore morally autonomous. He immediately adds:

being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ

The Christian therefore does not have to take his rule of conduct from the surrounding social or economic system. He remains under the law to Christ.

Bearing Another's Burden

Galatians explains an important aspect of this law:

1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.

5 For every man shall bear his own burden.

— Galatians 6:1–5, KJV

The law of Christ therefore includes bearing another person's burdens. This does not abolish individual responsibility, because only three verses later Paul says, "every man shall bear his own burden." Scripture presents both principles together.

A Christian bears another's burden while still recognizing that each person has his own life and responsibilities before God.

The Commandment of Christ

Christ himself gives the underlying commandment:

34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

— John 13:34–35, KJV

Again Christ says:

12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

— John 15:12–14, KJV

Consequently, "the law of Christ" should not merely be understood as an abstract theological expression. It governs how the believer conducts himself toward another person.

The Law of Christ and Mammon

There is another system operating in ordinary life: mammon.

Jesus said:

13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

— Luke 16:13, KJV

A workplace and a commercial environment necessarily involve money, employment, management, customers, schedules, staffing and economic interests. People within such a structure can therefore relate to one another partly through economic roles: manager and employee, worker and customer, employer and subordinate.

The Christian, however, does not have to reduce another human being to his or her economic function.

He can encounter somebody within a commercial environment while remaining under the law to Christ.

This creates an important distinction:

• Mammon asks what a person is worth economically.
• Employment asks what function a person performs.
• Management asks how labor and resources should be allocated.
• The law of Christ asks the Christian how he ought to conduct himself toward another person.

These are not the same questions.

"Look Not Every Man on His Own Things"

Paul describes the Christian principle further in Philippians:

3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

— Philippians 2:3–5, KJV

This goes considerably beyond merely using collective language such as "we," "the team," or "we help one another."

The biblical question is whether a person actually looks "also on the things of others."

A workplace can speak continually about being a team while remaining fundamentally structured around economic interests and managerial authority. Conversely, a person who possesses no managerial authority and has no economic obligation toward another person can nevertheless genuinely care about that person's burden.

The outward structure and the inward principle are therefore different things.

An Application to an Ordinary Encounter

This distinction can apply even to something as ordinary as meeting a worker in a food store.

From the commercial perspective, the encounter is between a customer and an employee. The employee is being paid to perform a function, and the customer enters the store to obtain goods.

But that need not exhaust the meaning of the encounter for a Christian.

If the Christian recognizes that the worker is tired, burdened, or simply another human being passing through the difficulties of ordinary life, his conduct need not be governed solely by what he wants to obtain from that person.

He can instead ask:

• Am I adding to this person's burden or making it lighter?
• Am I demanding something for myself, or considering the other person's situation?
• Am I behaving with meekness?
• Am I treating this person merely according to an economic role, or according to the law to Christ?

This does not require knowing the person's private thoughts, circumstances, health, family situation, or feelings. Indeed, respecting what one does not know can itself prevent the Christian from placing unnecessary burdens upon another.

The principle concerns first of all the believer's own conduct.

A Different Kind of Relationship

This also explains how genuine human comfort can exist without ownership, employment authority, contractual obligation, or an intimate private relationship.

A Christian does not need to possess another person in order to do that person good.

Paul says:

Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

The Christian may therefore seek to be a peaceful rather than troublesome presence; to give rather than continually extract; to respect another person's boundaries rather than demand access; and, where opportunity naturally permits it, to make another person's burden lighter rather than heavier.

Whether another person actually experiences a particular encounter as comforting cannot simply be assumed. That belongs to the other person.

But the Christian can know what governs his own side of the encounter:

being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ

That remains true whether the encounter occurs in a church, a home, a street, or a supermarket.

The surrounding environment may operate according to employment, commerce, hierarchy and mammon. The believer's conduct toward the individual standing before him can nevertheless operate according to another rule:

the law of Christ.

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