Expositor's Bible Commentary 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)

Verses 5–11 advance two arguments against the practice of favoritism. The first may be called the social argument (vv.5–7). The importance the author attaches to these arguments is seen in the imperative “Listen, my dear brothers.” The early church was not drawn from the wealthy or ruling classes. It was largely made up of poorer people, those who were “poor in the eyes of the world” (cf. Matthew 11:5; 1 Corinthians 1:26–29). By saying that the believers’ poverty is poverty “in the eyes of the world,” James suggests that they are not really poor. They are “rich in faith” and heirs of the kingdom. The aspect of the kingdom James has in mind is future. It is the eternal kingdom that Christ equated with eternal life (Matthew 25:34, 46). The social snobbery of the world is short-sighted and superficial. And the favoritism James’s readers practiced was based on this same shallow kind of evaluation.

James’s concept of the blessed poor may be misunderstood. He does not say that all poor people are “rich in faith,” nor does he exclude the rich from the ranks of the saved. Furthermore, God’s choice of the poor must not be taken as based on any merit inherent in poverty. One reason God “has chosen those who are poor” may be seen in the account of the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17–27). There Jesus indicated that those who have riches find it exceedingly difficult to enter God’s kingdom (vv.23–25), apparently because their wealth stands in the way. God blesses those who willingly recognize their spiritual bankruptcy (Matthew 5:3). A second reason why God chooses the poor is explicitly stated in 1 Corinthians 1:26–29. God selects those who have nothing or are nothing in themselves “so that no one may boast before him” (v.29).