What does Tribe teach about eternal reward?
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 reward starts with a distinction that Brian Hunter says most Christians have never been taught: salvation cannot be earned or lost through effort, but a believer's eternal reward is not automatic either. The anchor for the series is 2 John 1:8, which calls readers to be diligent so they receive a full reward. Brian's argument is that if a full reward is possible, so is a partial reward and no reward at all. The grammar of the text demands it. As he puts it, "You can't work for salvation, but your work determines your reward."
The central image comes from 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, where Paul describes every believer's work being tested by fire at the bema seat judgment. The fire is not about whether a person is saved; it is about whether the work they did to fulfill their calling was built from gold, silver, and jewels or from wood, hay, and straw. Brian spent real time on what the wood and straw actually represent, drawing on the phrase the author of Hebrews uses: dead works. Work done entirely from a person's own effort and strength, no matter how useful or godly it looks from the outside, is dead before God. He read from Watchman Nee to press the point: what God condemns is not only bad deeds, but the best deeds done apart from Christ. The issue is the source, not the appearance.
Pastor Brian was careful not to let that become an excuse for passivity. The parable of the talents and the servant who buried his out of fear sits in the background of the whole series. The goal he kept returning to is honest self-examination, letting what is built from the flesh be named and released, so that whatever comes next is built in the Spirit. The line he came back to across multiple weeks was this: "Every moment matters when forever is your measure."
Taught from 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 · 2 John 1:8 · Matthew 7:21-23 · Hebrews 6:1 · Matthew 6:19-21
“What God condemns is not only our bad deeds, but our best deeds done apart from Christ.”
From Gold, Silver, and Precious Stones
The passage taught · 1 Corinthians 3:10-15
10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each man be careful how he builds on it.
11 For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or stubble;
13 each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is.
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- September 1, 2025 Gold, Silver, and Precious Stones Brian Hunter walks through what Scripture calls "dead works," asking whether the things we build for God are powered by his Spirit or just our own effort.
- August 25, 2025 Saved. Now What？ A Wyoming church explores what it means to build a life that lasts, asking what kind of work survives when everything temporary is burned away.
- August 18, 2025 Work and Reward Brian Hunter preaches on work and reward from 2 John, explaining why salvation is a free gift and how Christians can pursue a full eternal reward through obedience.