The New Testament repeatedly speaks to believers who are:

• forgiven

• justified

• sanctified in Christ

…and yet are still harming one another.

Paul writes to the Corinthian church:

“To those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints.”
(1 Corinthians 1:2)

Yet throughout the same letter he confronts:

• jealousy and strife — (1 Corinthians 3:3)

• divisions and power struggles — (1 Corinthians 1:10–13)

• sexual harm — (1 Corinthians 5:1)

• exploitation and lack of love at the Lord’s Table — (1 Corinthians 11:17–22)

Paul does not question their salvation or forgiveness.

Instead, he diagnoses something deeper:

“For you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly and behaving like mere humans?”
(1 Corinthians 3:3)

This shows us clearly:

Forgiveness alone does not automatically heal formation, patterns, or relational distortion.