1 John 4:4

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 John 4:4

Ye are of God - You are of his family; you have embraced his truth, and imbibed his Spirit.Little children - Notes, 1 John 2:1.And have overcome them - Have triumphed over their arts and temptations; their endeavors to draw you into error and sin. The word them in this place seems to refer to the false prophets or teachers who collectively constituted antichrist. The meaning is, that they had frustrated or thwarted all their attempts to turn them away from the truth.Because greater is he that... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 John 4:4-6

1 John 4:4-6. Ye Who abide in the truth taught you from the beginning; are of God, and have overcome them Namely, these seducers, in all their snares and delusions: that is, the doctrine to which you adhere has prevailed against those who deserve the name of antichrist, (as undoubtedly all who oppose the Christian interest in some measure did,) and as you have the true miraculous gifts of the Spirit among you, to which they falsely pretend, it is soon seen that the advantage is clearly... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 John 4:1-6

Truth and error (4:1-6)Christians should examine carefully the teaching they receive, because not all teaching is correct, in spite of speakers’ claims that they are speaking by God’s Spirit. Wrong teaching about Christ may please those who do not want to believe that the Son of God is also a real man, but such teaching is from the devil (4:1-3).There is no need for Christians to fear the false teachers, because those in whom God dwells can overcome those in whom Satan dwells (4). There will... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - 1 John 4:4

little children . App-108 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - 1 John 4:4

Ye are of God, my little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.Ye ... Stott pointed out that 1 John 4:4; 1 John 4:5; and 1 John 4:6 all begin with an emphatic personal pronoun: "(1 John 4:4) ye ([@humeis]), (1 John 4:5) they ([@autoi]), and (1 John 4:6) we ([@hemeis])."[17] These refer respectively to (1 John 4:4) John's readers in general, (1 John 4:5) to the false teachers, and (1 John 4:6) to John the apostle and other apostolic... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - 1 John 4:4

1 John 4:4. And have overcome them:— From this and several other passages it appears, that the Christians to whom St. John wrote, had not yet been drawn aside by the false teachers, though they were in imminent danger thereof: there had been frequent contests between them; but by steadfastness in the faith, through the grace of God, they had hitherto gotten the victory. And the apostle puts them in mind of the victory which they had obtained, to intimate that the cause was not in the least... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - 1 John 4:4

4. Ye—emphatical: YE who confess Jesus: in contrast to "them," the false teachers. overcome them— (1 John 5:4; 1 John 5:5); instead of being "overcome and brought into (spiritual) bondage" by them (2 Peter 2:19). John 10:8; John 10:5, "the sheep did not hear them": "a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers." he that is in you—God, of whom ye are. he that is in the word—the spirit of Antichrist, the devil, "the prince of this world." read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 John 4:1-6

2. God’s Spirit Recognized 4:1-6The mention of the Holy Spirit in 1 John 3:24 caused John to pause briefly to sound a warning. God’s Spirit is not the only spirit manifest in the world. Some people naively think that any manifestation of a spiritual presence is indication of the Holy Spirit. The apostle explained how to distinguish the Holy Spirit from other spirits at work in the world. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 John 4:4

John’s readers had so far overcome these opponents of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit who indwelt them ("He who is in you;" cf. 1 John 3:24; 1 John 4:2; 1 John 4:13). The Holy Spirit is stronger than Satan ("he who is in the world"). We overcome Satan, his agents, and his influence as we resist his temptations to doubt, deny, disregard, and disobey the Word of God (1 Peter 5:9; cf. Genesis 3; Matthew 4). "You are from God" is the center of a chiasm that embraces 1 John 4:2-6. [Note: Smalley, p.... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 4:1-21

Fellowship with God in Love1. Try the spirits] RV ’Prove the spirits.’ The verb is used of testing metals. 2, 3. See on 2 John 1:7. 3. Confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh] RV ’confesseth not Jesus.’4. He that is in the world] the Devil: cp. 1 John 3:10; John 8:44; John 12:31. 5. They] the false prophets. 6. We] the Christian teachers.8. God is love] the third fundamental maxim (see Intro.). Love is not merely an attribute of God, it is His very Being. Hence to be without love... read more

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