John Calvin Commentary 1 John 5:4

"For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that hath overcome the world, [even] our faith." — 1 John 5:4 (ASV)

This is the victory. As he had said that all who are born of God overcome the world, he also sets forth the way of overcoming it. For it might still be asked, from where does this victory come? He then makes the victory over the world depend on faith.

This passage is remarkable, for though Satan continually repeats his dreadful and horrible attacks, yet the Spirit of God, declaring that we are beyond the reach of danger, removes fear and encourages us to fight with courage. And the past tense is more emphatic than the present or the future; for he says, that has overcome, so that we might feel certain, as though the enemy had already been put to flight. It is, indeed, true that our warfare continues through life, that our conflicts are daily, indeed, that new and various battles are, every moment, on every side, stirred up against us by the enemy. But as God does not arm us only for one day, and as faith is not that of one day but is the perpetual work of the Holy Spirit, we are already partakers of victory, as though we had already conquered.

This confidence does not, however, introduce indifference, but renders us always earnestly intent on fighting. For the Lord thus commands his people to be certain, while still not wanting them to be complacent; but on the contrary, he declares that they have already overcome, so that they may fight more courageously and more strenuously.

The term world has here a wide meaning, for it includes whatever is adverse to the Spirit of God. Thus, the corruption of our nature is a part of the world, as are all lusts, all the schemes of Satan—in short, whatever leads us away from God.

With such a force to contend with, we have an immense war to wage. We would have already been conquered before even entering the contest, and we would be conquered a hundred times daily, if God had not promised us the victory.

But God encourages us to fight by promising us the victory. And as this promise perpetually secures for us the invincible power of God, so, on the other hand, it annihilates all the strength of men.

For the Apostle does not teach us here that God only gives us some help, so that, being aided by Him, we might be strong enough to resist. Instead, he makes victory depend on faith alone, and faith receives from Another that by which it overcomes. Therefore, those who ascribe triumph to their own power take from God what is His own.