What does Tribe teach about eternal life?
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 eternal life starts with the conviction that it is not simply a future hope but a present reality that begins the moment a person makes an exchange with Jesus. Brian Hunter has taught from 1 John 5:12 that without Jesus a person may have a pulse but is spiritually dead, and that receiving the Son is what gives actual life. The resurrection of Jesus is the anchor of that confidence. In the series on resurrection, Brian drew on 1 Corinthians 15 to show that Jesus is the first fruits, the first one raised with a body that never dies again, and that everyone who belongs to him is destined for the same total victory.
Brian has used the image of a Plinko chip to describe how life moves toward its final outcome. Before a person invites Jesus in, there is no reliable trajectory toward any good end. Once Jesus enters the picture, the final slot is secured, even when the path through this life takes hard and unexpected bounces. He put it plainly: "The resurrection of Jesus gives us great confidence that nothing less than total victory is our destiny." The encouragement he returned to, especially for anyone whose circumstances feel transient or unsettled, was: "Don't judge your destiny by the current bounce of your Plinko chip."
The teaching on what eternal life ultimately looks like draws on 1 John 3 and the promise that when Christ appears, those who belong to him will be like him because they will see him as he truly is. Brian described this as a diamond being turned so that new facets keep catching the light, and pointed out that our glorified bodies will have a capacity to perceive God in ways our current ones simply cannot. Eternal life, in the way Tribe has taught it, is not a static state but an ever-deepening seeing of who God is.
Taught from 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 · 1 John 3:1-3 · 1 John 5:12 · 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 · 2 Corinthians 5:17
The passage taught · 1 John 3:1-3
1 See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know him.
2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is.
3 Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- July 20, 2025 His Name on Your Boot A Jackson Hole pastor walks through 1 John 3:1-3 and asks one question: whose name is written on the sole of your heart's boot?
- May 12, 2025 First Fruits of the Resurrection Brian Hunter uses the Feast of First Fruits and 1 Corinthians 15 to show that resurrection is not a distant idea but a present hope: total victory is every believer's destiny.
- October 24, 2022 Resurrection Series Week 1： New Life Brian Hunter walks through John 3 and John 11 to explore what resurrection really means, starting with the exchange that has to happen before new life can begin.
Mentioned along the way
- December 25, 2022 The Story of Christmas Begins in a Garden A Christmas Eve outdoor service in Jackson Hole where Pastor Brian Hunter traces the story of Christmas from the garden of Eden to a manger in Bethlehem.