Living in the Center of Biblical Tension: How Life’s Crisis Can Lead to Clarity of Faith

This Sunday, I attempted something that feels almost impossible. In about thirty minutes, I tried to summarize the doctrine of the Trinity, one of the most profound and complex doctrines in Christian theology. This subject could take six weeks to cover adequately, and even then, we wouldn’t exhaust its depth. The Christian church has been wrestling with this mystery for centuries, and even the earliest Christians struggled to clarify what they believed.

Early Christian Creeds

Take a look at one of the earliest statements of Christian faith, the Apostles’ Creed:

*“I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord;

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

Born of the Virgin Mary,

Suffered under Pontius Pilate,

Was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended into hell;*

The third day He rose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,

And sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

The holy catholic Church,

The communion of saints,

The forgiveness of sins,

The resurrection of the body,

And the life everlasting. Amen.”*

Now compare that to the Nicene Creed, which was written years later at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD:

*“We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, the only-begotten; that is, of the substance of the Father,

God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;

By whom all things were made, both in heaven and on earth;

Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate, and was made man;

He suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven;

From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

And in the Holy Spirit.”*

Did you notice the difference?

The Nicene Creed expands on the relationship between the Father and the Son. It goes to great lengths to affirm that Jesus is “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father.” That level of clarification wasn’t included in the Apostles’ Creed. So what led to the change?

The answer is controversy.

A major theological debate broke out in the early church over the divinity of Christ. A man named Arius began teaching that Jesus was not truly God but was instead a created being, higher than man but lower than God. This belief, known as Arianism, spread rapidly, challenging the church’s understanding of Christ’s nature. It was a crisis for the church. The Nicene Creed was the church’s response, formally declaring that Jesus was, is, and always will be fully God. The wording wasn’t just theological—it was a line drawn in the sand.

But the wrestling over doctrine didn’t stop there. Fifty-six years later, in 381 AD, the church gathered again at the Council of Constantinople and expanded the Nicene Creed further. One of the major additions was a more detailed statement on the Holy Spirit:

“And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life;

Who proceeds from the Father [and the Son];

Who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified.”

The early church wasn’t just making statements but clarifying what was at stake. They weren’t satisfied with vague ideas or allowing theological drift. They wrestled with the truth until they found clarity.

A Willingness to Wrestle

Sometimes, I wonder if modern Christians have lost that willingness to wrestle.

For many believers today, faith is about practical application—what can I take from a sermon and use in my daily life? And that’s important. But how often do we sit down and honestly grapple with the profound, mind-boggling doctrines of Scripture? How often do we ask hard questions and push through the tension of truth?

Look, I get it. Life is busy. Between work, school, getting the kids to practice, taking care of family, and all the responsibilities that fill our schedules, who has time to read theological commentaries on the Trinity? Most of us barely have time to read past a social media headline, let alone engage in an in-depth study of doctrine.

But here’s the thing—life has a way of forcing us to wrestle with big ideas about God.

The early church was thrown into theological controversy because the nature of Christ was being questioned. The controversy threatened to divide the church completely. If the Christian church was going to survive, it had no choice but to dig deep, search the Scriptures, and fight for truth.

Our Own Crises

For us, it might not be a church-wide doctrinal crisis—but it could be just as critical.

A hospital room.

A funeral home.

A jail cell.

A broken relationship.

A season of doubt.

Life’s biggest crises often bring us face to face with the biggest questions about God.  They can cause us to ask questions like:

Is God really in control?

Why do bad things happen to good people?

Why does evil seem to prosper?

Is God even listening?

Questions about suffering. Questions about justice. Questions about why things happen the way they do. And that’s where wrestling with doctrine matters.

The Center of Biblical Tension

Someone once said, “It’s always easier to swing to an extreme than to stay in the center of biblical tension.” I don’t know who said it first, but it’s one of the most profound statements I’ve ever heard.

Regarding the Trinity, some people err on one extreme: God is only one—denying the three Persons. Others swing to the opposite extreme: God is three separate beings—resulting in three separate gods. The truth is in the tension: God is One God in three Persons.

And most of life is lived with a Biblical tension between truths.

God is sovereign, but we are responsible for our choices.

God is good, but suffering still happens.

God is just, but sometimes the wicked prosper.

Faith isn’t about neatly packaging every question with a perfect answer. Faith often means learning to live in the tension.

Are You in a Struggle?

Maybe you’re in a season where you’re searching for answers, desperately trying to understand something that doesn’t make sense. Perhaps you’re asking God for clarity, for resolution.

I get it.

But the lesson of history—from the early church and our own experiences—is this: clarity doesn’t always come from resolution. Sometimes, it comes from learning to live in the tension.

The early church creeds remind us that controversy and struggle precede clarity. But it does not inevitably produce clarity. Clarity from crisis requires that you don’t run from the big questions. You have to wrestle with them. Bring them to God. And don’t expect every struggle to end in a resolution.

Because the deepest faith isn’t found in certainty, it’s found in the certainty of God in the middle of the tension.