Did the people of God in Scripture fail?
Yes, the people of God in Scripture failed miserably. Abraham sinned by claiming Sarai was his sister, and Peter denied knowing Jesus. Yet God did not cast them out; as believers, they recognized their sin, confessed it, and were restored. Paul's doctrines of grace never give license to sin.
Les explains that you can go all the way up through Scripture and find that all these people failed miserably. Abraham, for example, feared Egypt and told Sarai to say she was his sister—that was sin. Yet God did not kick Abraham out. Abraham had to come to the place of recognizing his sin as a believer. Then in the New Testament, Peter denied Jesus before a servant girl, and the cock crowed. Peter wept bitterly because he was convicted of his sin. Did that throw Peter out? No. He was reconciled immediately when he confessed his sin. So it is with a believer in Paul's doctrines of grace. Paul never gives us license to sin. John's little epistle says, 'Oh my little children, I write unto you that you sin not, but if we sin...'