What does Tribe teach about flesh vs spirit?
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 flesh versus spirit begins with a clear picture of how human beings are designed. Brian Hunter lays out that every person is made of three parts: body, soul, and spirit. Before a person is saved, the spirit is dormant and the soul steps into authority, running the whole operation on its own terms. That shows up not just as obvious sin but as religious activity, church attendance, even ministry work done from self-effort. Brian is direct that none of it counts before God. As he puts it, "Dress it up however you will with religious bedazzlement. He sees right through it."
When a person comes to faith, the spirit comes alive and the proper order is meant to be restored: God speaks to the spirit, the spirit leads the soul, the soul directs the body. Walking in the spirit is not an advanced topic for serious Christians, it is the basic equipment for anyone who will face hard seasons. Brian uses the image of a multi-speed bike: on flat ground one gear feels fine, but hills are coming, and the time to learn to downshift is before the climb, not during it. The flesh and the spirit are working in opposite directions at all times, and the question is which one is actually in the driver's seat.
The practical weight of this teaching is that flesh-driven work, no matter how impressive it looks from the outside, is what the New Testament calls dead works. Brian points to the fire passage in 1 Corinthians 3 to show that at the end of a believer's life the quality of their work will be tested, and anything built from personal effort rather than from the Spirit will not survive. "What God condemns is not only our bad deeds, but our best deeds done apart from Christ." The invitation the teaching keeps returning to is honest self-examination: let it burn now, while there is still time to rebuild from a different source.
Taught from Romans 8:5 · Galatians 5:16-17 · 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 · Romans 8:1-16 · John 15:5
“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.
- February 17, 2025 Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves Brian Hunter opens a new series in Leviticus and Galatians, exploring what it really costs to live in relationship with God and why something always has to die.
- May 20, 2024 Why It's Important to Walk in the Spirit Brian Hunter walks through why walking in the Spirit matters more than religious effort, using Scripture, honest conversation, and a mountain bike analogy to make the case.
- May 19, 2024 Why is it Important to Walk in the Spirit? Brian Hunter walks through why walking in the spirit matters more than religious effort, using Scripture, cycling analogies, and honest conversation with his congregation.
- 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.
- April 15, 2024 Devoted to Destruction A guest speaker leads Tribe church through Deuteronomy, Galatians and Romans, calling believers to stop coddling sin and ruthlessly cut out whatever pulls them from God.
- April 14, 2024 Devoted to Destruction A guest speaker at a Wyoming church walks through Scripture on why followers of Jesus must fully destroy sinful patterns rather than make room for them.