“OVERCOMING THE OPPOSITION”

4 “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

1 John 4:4

Yesterday, we talked about the enemy having a myriad of false teachers who are out spewing all kinds of lies about Christ. Their goal is to confuse and eventually deceive people into thinking that either Jesus is not God or not human, among many things.

In verse 4, John addresses his listeners as little children (teknion), a term of kindly address by teachers to their disciples. They have overcome the antichrists, also known as false prophets, because they resisted their teachings. John says that they are “from God,” which literally means “born of God.” This expression shows the personal relationship they share with God through Christ.

On the other hand, the false teachers do not have the Spirit of God because they do not have a relationship with Jesus. Neither do they have the Holy Spirit living in them. Thus, they do not have a fellowship with God. And since they are not connected with God, they do not have love.

John further tells his readers that “greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.” They are only able to overcome the false teachers because God is greater than the enemy. While Satan is a formidable foe, he is still subjected to God’s authority, and therefore cannot do anything to believers without God’s prior approval.

Without a doubt, we have a powerful enemy in Satan, and he has an army of demons doing his will for him. And to think that they have been in existence long before us—and considering the fact that they can see us but we can’t see them—we might get fooled into thinking that resisting them would be impossible.

But the Bible says they can be overcome.

37 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:37-39

Not only are we conquerors, but we are more than conquerors. Our God enables us to overcome demonic forces and bring glory to His name. Moreover, He uses us to bless others as we point them to Christ.

Are you living in the power of God? Do you rely on the Holy Spirit to subdue the enemy and resist his temptations? Trust in Him and see yourself being able to overcome the opposition.

Pursue the Savior today!