CHOSEN

In my Bible time this morning I came across a passage that prompted a question in my mind that I want to pose to my Calvinist friends. It’s a question I have not ever seen addressed in any debate I have ever watched or read on the topic of Calvinism, but surely someone has an answer for it.  (I am assuming I just haven’t come across this yet.)

For the record, the Calvinists that I know personally – my Calvinist brothers and sisters – tend to be among the most intelligent, Biblically literate, and godly people I have come across in my lifetime. Nevertheless, I have never been persuaded of key aspects of Calvinist theology, among them unconditional election, the idea that, from before time began, God chose some individuals to be saved and some not to be saved based on nothing more than His sovereign will. 

This concept is stated succinctly in one of the key verses Calvinists often point to, Ephesians 1:4 – “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.”

The word “chose” here is the Greek word “exelexato”, meaning to choose, elect, or select.

Among other places, this same Greek word is found in John 15:16 where Jesus says, “You did not choose me but I chose you, and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last – and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.”

But this morning my attention and curiosity was caught by another use of this same word, this time in the book of James. The general context is different from Ephesians certainly: James is warning believers not to favor rich people over the poor. But note how the immediate context bears certain similarities:

James 2:5 – “Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?”

So this raises my question: Doesn’t a Calvinist have to give God’s “choosing” in James 2:5 the same level of literal interpretation as God’s “choosing” in Ephesians 1:4?

But I have never heard anyone – Calvinist or not – argue that the materially poor of the world have all been chosen by God according to his sovereign will to receive automatically the gift of faith and, therefore, salvation. 

But why not? James says God has chosen the poor to be “rich in faith” and to “inherit the kingdom he promised”, right? 

My question is sincere and not meant as a “gotcha”: Any Calvinists care to educate me on how and why we should differentiate between these two “choosings”?