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 picture of what the flesh actually is and how it operates. Brian laid out the framework in the Walking in the Spirit series: before a person is saved, the spirit is dormant, and the soul steps into the seat of authority, running the whole person on its own terms. Whether the result looks like obvious sin or tidy religious behavior, the flesh cannot please God. Brian was direct that this includes people doing genuinely good things for the wrong reasons, and he sat with the Romans 8 line long enough to make that uncomfortable and clear. The soul commanding the body on its own terms, he said, is the default condition, not an edge case.
Amanda built on that foundation by naming what walking in the flesh actually costs and how little effort it requires. She noted that the flesh is simply the path of least resistance: as she put it, "We don't have to try at all to sin, not even a little. It just happens." The list in Galatians 5 is a wide one, and some of the entries are less dramatic than others. Pride, self-pity dressed as righteous indignation, gossip that feels like sharing, and doing nothing when you know what you should do all belong on it. She cited James 4:17 directly on that last one: knowing what you ought to do and not doing it is sin. She was careful to say that naming these patterns is not the same as dismissing real pain, and she pointed to Paul's own confession in Romans 7 that he does what he hates.
The teaching also draws a firm line between conviction and condemnation. Amanda put it plainly: "The voice of conviction says, that's not for you. Condemnation says, you are worthless." Recognizing the sinful nature clearly is not meant to crush people but to make walking in the spirit a real and practical possibility. The flesh and the spirit are moving in opposite directions, and you cannot do both at once. Understanding the flesh, then, is treated at Tribe not as an exercise in self-loathing but as essential preparation for living from a different source entirely. Amanda said it directly: "Jesus paid too high of a price for us to choose to continue to live in the flesh."
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
The messages that teach on it
- 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 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.
Mentioned along the way
- 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.