James 2:5

James 2:5 says, Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?  Continuing to speak about the rich and the poor, James asked if God had not chosen the poor of the world who were rich in faith over the rich who were poor in faith.  This still teaches that God judges us by our faith in Jesus Christ, but that those who are rich in faith will always be judged as better than those who are poor in faith.  I don’t believe that he was saying that the poor are more valuable to God because they are poor, but that they are more valuable because of their faith in Him. 

Verse six adds, But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?  James said that Christians had thought that if their fellow Christians were poor, they had been despised.  Some Christians tend to be this way today, looking down on those that they do not see as their equals materially, but this should never be the case.  

Verse seven continues, Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?  James said that when people did this that they blasphemed the name of Jesus Christ, by whom they were called to salvation.  We as followers of Christ should never be guilty of this.  

Verse eight states, If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:  James then stated that if people obeyed God’s royal law, which he said was to love your neighbor as yourself, that they did well.  This was not the law of man, and he did not say if you obeyed the Ten Commandments as being God’s royal law.  He cited Jesus’s commandment that we love our neighbor as ourselves.  If we aren't doing this, then we will not doing well what God expects from us.   

Verse nine adds, But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.  James then stated that the opposite was true.  If people didn’t extend the love of God to everyone the same way, then they were guilty of being guilty of the law of transgressors.  As Christians we cannot look down on anyone as being unworthy of God’s love.