What does Tribe teach about sinful nature?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At Tribe, the teaching on sinful nature starts with a clear-eyed look at what it actually is and why it is so hard to escape. Brian laid the groundwork by describing human beings as triune creatures, made of body, soul, and spirit. Before a person is saved, the spirit is dormant, and the soul steps into the seat of authority, running the whole operation on its own terms. What drives it is the flesh, and Brian was direct that religious activity done from that place still carries no eternal weight. The flesh cannot please God, no matter how it is dressed up. As he put it, "Dress it up however you will with religious bedazzlement. He sees right through it."
Amanda built on that foundation by pointing out that the sinful nature is simply the default setting. It requires no effort at all. The list in Galatians five is a wide one, and she noted that some of the most common expressions of the flesh are the ones easiest to miss: pride, self-pity dressed up as righteous indignation, gossip that feels like sharing, and doing nothing when you know what you should do. She cited James 4:17 directly on that last one, naming inaction as sin when a person knows better. She also drew a distinction that matters practically: the voice of conviction and the voice of condemnation are not the same thing. She said, "The voice of conviction says, that's not for you. Condemnation says, you are worthless."
The reason all of this gets named so plainly at Tribe is not to produce shame but to produce clarity. You cannot walk in the Spirit and in the flesh at the same time, and you cannot build a strong offense without understanding what you are up against. The sinful nature is not something a person has to work at. It is what happens when attention drifts from the Spirit. The teaching here is that awareness of the flesh is part of the equipment needed to actually walk free of it.
Taught from Romans 8:1-16 · Galatians 5:16-18 · Galatians 5:19-21 · James 4:17 · Romans 7
“The voice of conviction says, that's not for you. Condemnation says, you are worthless.”
From Spirit Versus Flesh
The passage taught · Colossians 1:9-10
9 For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
10 that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- June 16, 2024 Spirit Versus Flesh Amanda Luck walks through Galatians and Romans to contrast walking in the Spirit with walking in the flesh, and what it means to choose between the two.
- May 13, 2024 The Master, the Manager, and the Mover What does it mean to walk in the Spirit? A Wyoming church explores how body, soul, and spirit work together and what it looks like to let God lead.
- May 12, 2024 The Master, The Manager, and The Mover Brian Hunter walks through Romans 8 and Galatians 5 to explain what walking in the Spirit actually means and why your flesh keeps fighting for control.