yes he greets beleivers as saints.
The Greek for saint is
40 hágios – properly, different (unlike), other("otherness"), holy; for the believer,
40 (hágios) means "likeness of nature with the Lord" because "different from the world."
The fundamental (core) meaning of 40 (hágios) is "different" – thus a temple in the 1st century was hagios ("holy") because different from other buildings (Wm. Barclay). In the NT,
40 /hágios ("holy") has the "technical" meaning "different from the world" because "like the Lord."
[40 (hágios) implies something "set apart" and therefore "different (distinguished/distinct)" – i.e. "other," because special to the Lord.]
The word translated “saint” in the New Testament, hagios, literally means “sacred, physically pure; morally blameless or religious; ceremonially consecrated; holy.” In the context of New Testament passages, saints are those who belong to the body of Christ, saved by grace through faith. In other words, saint is another word for a Christian, a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
As saints we are Holy which is why we are called to be Holy.
To me this is why a I think Paul addresses those believers who are Holy and at the same time their sin.
We are saints who do sin.
Paul reminds them of whom they are in Jesus and as a result of their sinning behaviour they are not acting like the child of God they are.
to me in a sense we are children of God acting out of character.
Would I call a fellow believer a sinner if I see them sinning or they came to me for help with a sinful problem.
No I wouldn't, I would remind them of whom they are in Christ that through him we are being sanctified and the Holy Spirit is working in us to conform us to the image of Christ.
Beleivers are saints who will sin.
Believers are children of God who walk in His ways.
If we actively choose to sow to death, then we will dry up and perish.
The difference between a problem and a choice to walk away is important.
God talks so much about His people not listening to Him, doing ceremonies, sacrifices
yet living in sin and doing evil, so He will harden their hearts and drive them away, so
show the difference between those who are faithful and righteous and those that rebel.
Some seem to hate this connection between the heart and behaviour.
After some interesting interactions it suggests to me some do not know Christ within
so everything is just about acceptance where they are, because there has never been
anything else.
When you realise theology is not neutral, it grows out of our emotional experience and
learning from our walk with Christ, so obviously as different people experience different
things so their theology reflects this.