2 Corinthians 7:3 - Exposition

I speak not this to condemn you. "Not by way of condemnation am I speaking." My object is to maintain the old love between us; what I say, therefore, is merely to defend myself, not to complain of you. I have said before. He has not said it in so many words, but has implied it in 2 Corinthians 3:2 , 2 Corinthians 3:3 ; 2 Corinthians 6:11-14 . Ye are in our hearts. So he says to his beloved Philippians, "I have you in my heart" ( Philippians 1:7 ). To die and live with you. Similarly he tells the Thessalonians that he was ready to give them even his own life ( 1 Thessalonians 2:8 ). This is no mere conventional expression of deep affection, like Horace's, " Tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam libens ;" nor is it the description of some compact for life and death like that of the Theban Band. It has the deeper meaning which was involved by the words "life" and "death" on the lips of a Christian ( 2 Corinthians 4:11 .; 2 Corinthians 6:9 ). And one whose life was, for Christ's sake, a daily death, naturally mentions death first.