NOTES for Co2 7:1-9

Paul appeals to the Corinthian brothers with a request on behalf of himself and his companions: make room for us. In this way he continues the discussion of narrow and spacious hearts, calling those to whom he writes to widen their hearts.

The apostle says: if I rejoice, it is not because I have saddened any of you, but because our relationships remain unshaken, for they are rooted deeper than those emotional reactions that are entirely natural but do not touch the true spiritual depth, the very depth that Paul, following traditional usage, calls the heart. And he addresses first of all this spiritual depth, the person's true "I," the person as such, and not his outer coverings or passing states. The issue here is not only the desire to be understood and accepted.

The point is that genuine relationships between people are themselves a criterion of genuineness: of the genuineness of spiritual life and of life in general. Receiving the experience of real spiritual relationships, a person learns spiritual life as such and learns to distinguish what is real from what is superficial. He learns, in Paul's language, to widen his heart. This is what matters to the apostle: he wants his appearance and his activity in Corinth to contribute not to proving that he is right, for Paul has no need of self-assertion, but to the spiritual formation of his Corinthian brothers.

If they could now take the first step and accept the apostle as he came to them, so that the form in which Paul addresses them would not prevent them from receiving the meaning of what the apostle wants to say to them, they would widen their hearts. They would receive a new experience of genuine spiritual life. They would come closer to the Kingdom. And this means they would take another step on their Christian path. A step toward salvation.