The apostle John wrote a short letter to a woman of God and her children (2 John 1-13). He addressed her as the “elect lady.’ She was a kind woman who conducted a ministry of hospitality, providing room and board for itinerant preachers. Within the letter, John gave her a warning. He told her that not all who would come and preach in the name of Christ would be true believers; that many would be false teachers.

John went on to tell her how to spot the false ones. They would be the ones who denied the teaching that Jesus came in the flesh. In other words, though they might acknowledge that Jesus was a man of flesh and bone, they wouldn’t agree and proclaim that Jesus was God incarnate in the flesh. Theirs would be a doctrine other than the correct one: the full deity and the full humanity of Jesus. John labeled these false teachers as agents of Satan. He called them deceivers and antichrists.

Obviously, the lady would have to first find out what the visitor believed. If there were any deviation from what she’d been taught about Jesus’ true nature, she was not to receive them into her home. In fact, John didn’t even want her to cheerfully greet them.

Of course, the apostle’s instructions extend to all Christians throughout all ages. In our day, probably most Christians are aware of the Jesus isn’t fully deity and fully human doctrines embraced by would-be religious teachers who knock on our doors. If not known, then ask. Most commonly, those who knock are Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses.

To invite them into the home, even for the sake of kindness, for Bible study, for debate, or for witnessing, is out of the question. Nor should they even be wished well as they are turned away. That’s based on John’s admonition to not even greet them. For to greet them, to invite them in, or to encourage their endeavors, is the same as participating in their dark deeds of spreading thoughts and high imaginations against the Lord.

John’s message to the lady and to us is that boundaries must be erected when directly confronted by Satan’s emissaries in this way. The home is one of those boundaries. Don’t give false spirits the opportunity to gain even a toehold in the home. Rely on the Lord’s wise instruction and turn away the enemy’s attack at the door, be it  literally or figuratively, as in monitoring all forms of the media.