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Reinhold Niebuhr has often been taken to task for saying that Christians are redeemed "in principle but not in fact."

But what does he mean in saying this other than what Bultmann means, following Paul's witness, in talking about the dialectic, or paradox, of indicative and imperative? Both theologians are concerned to make clear that -- and why Christian that–and why–Christian existence (or, more generally, authentic existence) is not a matter of either "conduct" or "virtue" in the usual senses of the words. For them, and, as they believe, for Christian faith and witness, the imperative "Werde, der du bist!" is always in order, for Christians as much as for anyone else, and the prayer of the believer can never be other than, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"

One passage from Niebuhr's writings suffices to confirm beyond serious question that he and Bultmann are indeed on exactly the same page on all this namely, namely–NDM, 2:101 f.

Niebuhr says:

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[S]ome of the very assertions [see sc. in the Pauline epistles] which lend themselves to perfectionist interpretations are immediately followed by injunctions which cast doubt upon such an exposition. These injunctions declare in effect: you are now sinless. Therefore, you must not sin any more. The exhortation [by which Niebuhr means, clearly, the 'injunction; 'you must not sin any more'] implies that the original statements have a slightly different meaning than their obvious connotation. They really mean: self-love has been destroyed in principle in your life. See to it now that the new principle of devotion to God in Christ is actualized in your life. [He then goes on to say:] [Paul's] injunction [sic!] to the sinless, not to sin any more, implies that he understands the possibility of sinning for those who have broken with sin in principle.

Then, in the connected footnote 6 on p. 102, Niebuhr not only explicitly cites Bultmann's favorite Pauline text-text –  GaI 5:24-26- – but also says, in commenting on Eph 4:17-32, 'The fact that they [sc Christians] have renounced sin in principle demands that they break with it in fact, and the redeemed are admonished to conquer very obvious sins."
On the "in principle/in fact" distinction, see also the following passage (pp. 136 f.):

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