Yes. There are persuasions which do not originate with the Holy Spirit and God’s living Word. Some of these other seeming persuasions may even quote Scrip- ture, but not as God’s living Word to us now. We are exposed to many voices or impressions. If we expose our minds, emotions, and will to these, we can become convinced of something that is not true. Truth, you recall, is objective. Something does not become true or factual simply because we believe it.
Presumption is not faith.
God warns us against presumption through the severe punishment He inflicted upon those who dared to presume upon Him. This word comes from the Latin” praesumere” which means “to anticipate, suppose, take in advance.” The English definition is much closer to the Bible usage; it means “to dare, to take too much upon oneself.”
Presumption violates God’s holiness and sovereign authority. Presumption openly defies God’s right to choose people and places for His purposes. Those who presume take upon themselves authority that was not given to them. They overstep the limits of propriety and courtesy and intrude themselves into places where they have no business. This is not aggressive faith, but blatant rebellion.
“And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD” (Lev. 10:1, 2).
Assumption limits faith.
Very often we come to situations with our minds already made up. We are so full of our assumptions or preconceived ideas, that we are not really open to hear what God is saying to us now. We may miss what He is actually doing because we do not see what we expected to see. We may become too rigid in our expectations and limit God. Assumption means the act of taking something for granted or supposing that a thing is true without basis in fact.
Many of the Jews missed their Messiah because of their assumption that He would be a nationalistic, military king who would lead them in throwing off Roman rule. They were not prepared to accept a spiritual kingdom.