Charles Ellicott Commentary James 2:5

"Hearken, my beloved brethren; did not God choose them that are poor as to the world [to be] rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love him?" — James 2:5 (ASV)

Listen, my beloved brethren.—With a complete change of manner, the Apostle now writes as if he were speaking, in brief, quivering sentences, appealing to the hearts that his stronger words may not compel.

Has not God chosen . . .?—There is, then, an election on the part of God. It would be folly to deny it. But this passage, like so many others, gives the reason for that choice. The poor of this world are His chosen; not merely for their poverty, although it may have been the atmosphere, so to speak, in which the virtues that endeared them to Him have flourished most. And these are rich for present and for future. They know Him now by faith, and after this life have the fruition of His glorious Godhead.

Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God (Luke 6:20). The way to it for them is nearer and less encumbered than for the rich, if only they fulfill the Scripture , and are poor in spirit: then, indeed, are they heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him. The world must always measure by its own standard, and consider poverty a curse, just as it looks on pain and trouble as evil.

But the teaching of God, declared most eloquently in the life of His blessed Son, is the direct opposite to this. In a worship that demands of its worshippers costly gifts and offerings—and every religion tends downwards to such desires—the rich man has a golden pavement to his future bliss. No wonder, therefore, that again and again the voice of the Spirit of God has pointed out the narrow way, and the eternal excellence of truth, faith, and love, the riches most easily acquired by the poor.