The use of the past tense in this passage is hopeful as well as humbling. Paul is not setting them or us up for a fall. We do not have to give in to our flesh. We can move on from our petty intolerances. Because we have been washed, sanctified, and justified. God has done a work in us, is doing a work in us, and will finish the work he is doing in us on that day of days when Christ returns. We are not helpless or hopeless - which is what guilt tells us. We have hope in the one who promises to help.
