What is the law of Christ in Galatians 6:2?

By CopticBot.ai (Coptic Space Inc.) · Last reviewed 2026-10-10

In the Coptic Orthodox tradition, the "Law of Christ" mentioned in Galatians 6:2 ("Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ") is not a set of rigid, legalistic codes like the Old Covenant, but is the Law of Love and Grace.

1. The Commandment of Love

The Law of Christ is succinctly summarized by the Lord Himself: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another" (John 13:34).

• The Difference: The Law of Moses commanded "Love your neighbor as yourself." The Law of Christ goes further: "Love as I have loved you"—which is a sacrificial, self-emptying (kenotic) love that reaches even to death on the Cross.

2. The Law of Faith vs. the Law of Moses

As noted by the commentator Ambrosiaster, there is a "great deal of difference" between the Law of Moses and the Law of Christ (the Law of Faith).

• The Law of Moses was intended to be beneficial but became a "law of death" because it could only point out sin and condemn the sinner without providing the power to overcome it.
• The Law of Christ (Grace) not only forgives the sinner but "makes them righteous." It is the "dispensation of the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:8) that writes the law on the heart rather than on tablets of stone.

3. Fulfilling the Law Through Compassion

The Law of Christ is specifically "fulfilled" when we bear the burdens of others. St. Augustine explains this by saying that we become like the one we want to help through compassion, not by lying. By putting ourselves in the place of the vulnerable—such as the homeless or the weak—we exercise a "great mercy" that mimics Christ's own incarnation. He took our "burden" (sin and death) upon Himself; therefore, when we take on the burden of a brother's sorrow or poverty, we are living out the very essence of His life.

4. Completion of the Law

In our understanding of the Holy Scriptures, Christ did not come to destroy the Law of God but to complete it. As highlighted in the Church's historical response to early heresies (and referenced in texts like Ptolemy's Letter to Flora), the "pure legislation" of the Decalogue contained a "pure but imperfect legislation" that required the completion made by the Savior. The Law of Christ is that perfection—moving from the "perceptible and phenomenal" (rules) to the "spiritual and invisible" (the heart).

5. Summary of the Law of Christ

To live under the Law of Christ is to:

• Act with Sympathy: As St. Augustine writes, we enable the conversion of others not through judgment, but through "our own great love."
• Practice Presence: As Theodore of Mopsuestia emphasizes, being "under the Law of Christ" means we are no longer bound by the shadows of the Old Law, but by the reality of the person of.
• Bear Burdens: It is the active, lived experience of taking the "weakness" of our neighbor and making it our own, just as the Lord took our infirmities.

When you spend your time listening to the homeless or serving the vulnerable, you are not just doing a good deed; you are literally executing the Law of Christ, which is the highest form of worship and the fulfillment of all righteousness.