How the Spirit of Truth Blasts Your Religious Presuppositions

Blasting Religious Bias

I remember sitting in a quiet room years ago, surrounded by stacks of commentaries and leather-bound books that promised to unlock the mysteries of the Kingdom. I had a hunger in my belly, but I was trying to feed it with the dry crackers of human intellect. I thought that if I just read enough of the "experts," I would finally arrive at the truth. I was looking for a formula, a system, or a degree to validate what I was reading in the pages of my Bible. But the more I leaned on the "popular" takes of the day, the further I felt from the actual heartbeat of God.

Have you ever felt like you’re doing everything "right" by the book, yet your spiritual life feels like a desert? You listen to the big-name preachers, you follow the crowd, and you defer to the scholars, but there is still a nagging sense that something is missing. That pain you feel is the friction between your spirit and the man-made presuppositions you’ve been taught to harbor. We are often told that if everyone believes it, it must be true, or if someone has a list of initials after their name, they are the final authority on the Word of God.

This is the trap of the religious mind. It’s a cage built out of "common sense" and "expert opinion" that keeps us from the raw, transformative power of the Holy Spirit. We think we are being safe, but we are actually insulating ourselves against the very Spirit of Truth that Jesus promised would lead us. The solution isn't more study in the traditional sense; it’s a total dismantling of the filters we’ve placed over our eyes. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to blast through our preconceived notions so we can see Jesus for who He really is, not who the crowd says He is.

Main Message

The first giant we have to slay is the "popular argument." We’ve all heard it: "Well, Conrad, every major denomination teaches this," or "The most popular books on the shelf say x, y, and z." But friends, if you take a cursory look through the scriptures, you’ll find that the majority is almost always wrong when it comes to the move of God. Think about the religious leaders in the first century. They had the scrolls. They had the lineage. They had the popular support of the religious establishment.

They were looking for a conquering king, a political messiah who would overthrow Rome. They had completely ignored the suffering servant passages like Isaiah 53 because that didn't fit the popular narrative. When Jesus showed up—the literal Word made flesh—the popular doctrine of the day didn't just miss Him; it crucified Him. If we aren't careful, we will do the same thing in our own lives. We will ignore the "still small voice" because it doesn't align with the current trends in the church.

I talk about this a lot in my book OPEN YOUR EYES: MY SUPERNATURAL JOURNEY. We have to be willing to see what is actually there, not just what we've been told is there. The Spirit of Truth is often a disruptor. He doesn't come to confirm our biases; He comes to guide us into all truth, and sometimes that truth is very unpopular.

The second presupposition that fights the Spirit is the "trust the experts" mentality. Now, don't get me wrong, I value education. But when we prioritize a Ph.D. over the anointing, we are in dangerous territory. Look at the Apostle Paul. Before he was the champion of grace, he was Saul of Tarsus—a top-tier theologian with the Bible practically memorized. He sat at the feet of Gamaliel, the premier scholar of his time. By today's standards, Saul was a Doctor of Divinity several times over.

And what was he doing with all that expert knowledge? He was killing Christians. He was using the Bible as his authority to extinguish the light of the Gospel. He had the "right" credentials, but he didn't know the Author. It wasn't until that dusty road to Damascus in Acts 9 that everything changed. He didn't need another seminar; he needed a collision with the Resurrected King.

I find it fascinating that when God wanted to turn the world upside down on the Day of Pentecost, He didn't go to the Sanhedrin. He didn't recruit the scholars. He used a bunch of Galilean fishermen—men who looked so unrefined and were so filled with the Spirit that the crowd thought they were drunk. God delights in using the "unlearned" to confound the wise because then He gets the glory.

Personal Reflections

I’ve had to learn this the hard way. There were times in my early walk where I would ignore a prompting from the Lord because I couldn't find a "famous" teacher who agreed with it. I was more afraid of being "wrong" in the eyes of men than I was of being deaf to the Spirit of God. I remember one specific instance where I felt the Lord telling me to pray for someone in a way that felt "unconventional" according to my theological training at the time.

I hesitated. I argued with the Lord in my head. “Lord, the commentaries say this gift doesn’t operate that way anymore,” I reasoned. I missed the moment. Later, the Holy Spirit gently corrected me, reminding me that He is the one who wrote the book. I had made the "experts" my mediator instead of Jesus.

Since then, I’ve had to intentionally unlearn the habit of looking for human permission to believe what the Bible plainly says. I had to realize that the anointing is real and it's available to me, just as it is to you. I don't need a middleman to explain away the supernatural. I just need to abide in Him.

Biblical References

When we look at the early church, we see this dynamic playing out in real-time. In the book of Acts, the religious elite were baffled by the apostles. They couldn't wrap their heads around how these ordinary guys were doing extraordinary things.

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13 KJV).

Notice that it wasn't their academic prowess that made them bold; it was the fact that they had been with Jesus. That is the secret sauce. You can spend forty years in a library and never have the boldness that comes from five minutes in the presence of the Lord.

Jesus told us exactly how this would work. He didn't leave us as orphans to figure it out by trial and error. He gave us a Guide.

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. (John 16:13 KJV).

This isn't just for the "spiritual elite." This is for every believer. The Holy Spirit is a communicator. He wants to show you things. He wants to pull back the veil on your situation. But you have to be willing to listen to Him even when He says something that contradicts the "popular" view.

John takes it even further in his first epistle, reminding us of the internal compass we carry as children of God:

But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. (1 John 2:27 KJV).

This doesn't mean we don't listen to teachers, but it means that the ultimate validation of truth comes from the Spirit within us. If a teacher tells you something that the Spirit is "checking" in your heart, you listen to the Spirit. Every time.

Key Takeaways

• Popularity is no gauge for truth. In the Bible, the majority was frequently wrong and often resisted the move of God.
• Academic credentials do not equal spiritual authority. Saul had the best education money could buy, but he was spiritually blind until he met Jesus.
• The Holy Spirit is your primary teacher. He is the Spirit of Truth who guides you into all truth, not just the parts that are socially acceptable.
• Boldness comes from intimacy. People will recognize the "Jesus factor" in your life when you prioritize spending time with Him over seeking human approval.
• The internal anointing is your safeguard. You have a "truth-detector" living inside you; learn to trust its promptings.

Conclusion and Call to Action

The world, and even much of the religious establishment, wants you to stay in a box. They want you to defer your discernment to the "experts" and follow the "popular" path because it’s easy to control. But Jesus called you to a life of supernatural adventure. He gave you the Spirit of Truth so you could navigate the complexities of this life with divine precision.

Don't be afraid to be the "unlearned" one who actually knows the Lord. Don't be afraid to stand alone on a truth that the Holy Spirit has revealed to you through His Word. When you stop leaning on the broken reeds of human presupposition, you’ll find that the Spirit of Truth is more than capable of leading you exactly where you need to go.

If this message challenged you or helped you see things in a new light, I’d love to hear from you. Have you ever felt the Spirit leading you away from a "popular" opinion? Leave a comment below or reach out to me at ConradRocks.net. And if you want to dive deeper into how to see the spiritual reality around you, check out my book OPEN YOUR EYES.

Until next time, keep digging into the Word and listening to that Spirit of Truth.

Action Items

• Identify one "popular" belief you hold and lay it before the Lord today. Ask the Holy Spirit if it's actually biblical or just common tradition.
• Spend 15 minutes in silence with just your Bible (KJV) and no outside commentaries. Ask the Spirit of Truth to highlight a verse specifically for your situation.
• Read Acts chapter 4 and meditate on what it means to have "boldness" that comes from being with Jesus.
• Evaluate your sources. Look at the "experts" you listen to and ensure they are leading you closer to the Person of Jesus rather than just more human information.
• Subscribe to the podcast at ConradRocks.net to keep receiving these insights into the supernatural life in Christ.