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 degree desperate, but that by the same methods they might still go on conquering, and to conquer. See Revelation 2:20; Revelation 2:29; Revelation 19:1; Revelation 19:21.