1 John 4:4-6

Ye. In the Greek this is emphatic, underlining the contrast between the believers to whom John is writing and the false teachers of whom he has just been speaking (verse 3).

The battle lines are already drawn. John’s readers are on the side of Christ, whereas those who are not actively supporting the right are on the side of the enemy even though they may not have openly taken their stand under his black banner.

Of God. See on 1 John 3:9, 10; 4:1, 2.

Little children. See on 1 John 2:1.

Overcome. Gr. nikad (see on 1 John 2:13). When writing to young men in 1 John 2:13, 14, John recognizes that they “have overcome the wicked one.” Here he refers to the defeat of the false prophets by the believers. He does not specifically state how they had gained the victory, but connects it with their being “of God.” Their intimate relationship with the Father enabled them to reject the doctrines of false teachers. They had already received the divine anointing which gave them true knowledge (1 John 2:20, 27) and now had obviously used that unction in their fight against falsehood. Similar victories are possible for all God’s children.

Greater is he. Here the apostle reveals the inner reason for the Christian’s victory. God abides in the believer (1 John 2:14; 3:24) and makes him potentially stronger than any adversary. We need constantly to remind ourselves of this fact, and to act in the spiritual confidence that the experience brings to its possessor.

He that is in the world. That is, the devil (cf. on John 12:31; 16:33; PK 175, 513; GC 530). One would expect John to say “in them,” that is, in the false teachers, rather than “in the world”; but he uses the wider term because the spirit of these false prophets is the same selfish spirit of Satan that controls the world. By so stating the more general truth, he makes still clearer the contrast between the illimitable power of God and the limited resources of the author of falsehood.