Paul has no hesitation in affirming this group of believers as the church of God and that they were in Christ, had received the grace of God, were in fellowship with Jesus Christ and would be confirmed "blameless" to the day of Christ. Then he goes on in the bulk of the letter (1 Corinthians) to point out all of their failings and even immoral behavior! We have to ask: "What's with that?" There is a certain "tension" in all of this which needs to be unpacked.
