Why did Paul reprove and correct the people he wrote to?
Paul reproved and corrected them because they had lost sight of what God had instructed. They had become blinded by a lack of faith, and their faith grew weak, so they were leaving the doctrine of faith plus nothing and returning to legalism.
Les explains that all these writings of Paul, coming through doctrine, reproof, and correction, rested on Paul's premise of faith plus nothing. The people were reproved because they had lost sight of what God had instructed; they had been blinded by a lack of faith and were drifting back into legalism. They were leaving Paul's doctrine of faith plus nothing because their faith had grown weak. Les says the same pattern appears in the Ephesian letters: believers grasp their position in the heavenlies by faith, not by feeling. He illustrates this by sitting on a tractor on a 110-degree day and, by faith, reflecting that he is truly seated in the heavenlies. That is what faith does, and it is why correction was needed.