The manifestations of the spirit of mammon is not merely greed or materialism as one might think. Rather, all evil is the spirit of mammon that operates through the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life (1 John 2:16). 1 Timothy 6:10 makes it clear that the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. It is explicitly stated in the Bible that the love of money is the root of all evil which means that it is to be taken literally as a fact. If one wants evidence of this, one can observe the world around them and see how the "reward" of money makes people work harder for it and do anything it takes to achieve it. Indeed, this is the spirit behind capitalism, an anti-Christian doctrine.
Why is it that so many Christians do not seem to understand what mammon is? When one is under the spirit of mammon, that is, to yield to its temptation, one cannot see it as being under a spirit blinds the mind of the person under it. They cannot see the evil carnal manifestations because the spirit blinds the person spiritually. The person is controlled or yields to the temptation to serve the carnal flesh.
Mammon works behind money because money is that which is needed for people to obtain needs to serve one's physical or material needs. That is why satan, when he tried to tempt Jesus into sin, told him that he should seek after bread first to feed his material needs on the grounds that He is Son of Man (Matthew 4:3). Satan appears to be implying that because Jesus is Son of Man who can do anything, he should turn stone into bread to which Jesus replied "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).
Once a person sees only the material needs to be that which is to be served, the person is in the flesh which craves the earthly material things, rather than seeking first the Kingdom of God. When satan found that he was unsuccessful in tempting Jesus using bread, he then tempted him to kill himself on the ground that God will come to save Him, to which Jesus replied "Do not put the Lord to the test" (Matthew 4:7). This is a means of tempting Jesus into unbelief, such that He needed a miracle to trust God. A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign (Matthew 16:4).
Lastly, satan tempted Jesus by telling him to worship satan so that he will give Him all the kingdoms of the world (Matthew 4:8). The kingdoms of the world includes the world's systems is controlled by satan, the prince of this world (John 14:30). He is worshipped by the world, whether it believes he exists or not and blinds the minds of unbelievers in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Therefore, it seems justified to a mind blinded by the spirit mammon, or a saved person who yields to its temptations seek after such things because such a mind is concerned first and foremost with how to satisfy the flesh which has a sinful nature. The flesh is a slave to sin (Romans 6:6). It can only serve sin, and cannot resist it. Mammon feeds it by providing it what it needs, but it hides that which is spiritual, let alone the Gospel from the unsaved. As such, the spirit of mammon seduces people into lusting after the things of the world, rather than obeying God.
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