As participating members...

Gene A. Getz, in "Elders and Leaders," shares a helpful thought:

Paul address the Corinthian believers as saints (2 Corinthians 1:1), even though most of them were living anything but godly lives (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). Yet, because of their faith in Jesus Christ and their true salvation experience, God viewed them through Christ's death and resurrection as perfectly HAGIOS, or holy.

This is the way God sees all of us in local churches who are truly saved. If he did not, no one could inherit eternal life. This is why the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith and not by works is so important. None of us by our own strength can live a perfect life, nor can anyone qualify on his own to gain entrance into God's eternal kingdom.

However, even though we cannot reach God's standard of holiness in this life, both individually and as a church body, it is still His will that all of us become holy, as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). As participating members in local churches, we are to renew our minds – not to "conform any longer to the pattern of this world," but to "be transformed" (Romans 12:2). Put another way, as Christ's disciples and as brothers and sisters in Christ, we are to become more and more conformed to the image of Christ, reflecting the fruit of the Holy Spirit in all of our relationships with one another (Galatians 5:16-26).