Come on over!

This morning my pastor was making a point about the word "overcome" in 1 John 5:4-5 and I noticed that it wasn't quite the same in my ESV as it was in the KJV he was reading from:

ESV: "For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"

KJV: "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"

Notice that middle "has overcome" in the ESV? It reads that way in most of the modern translations. I think it's an interesting distinction that those who are born of God are already world-overcomers... that is their identity... and their faith is what has already overcome the world. It's an interesting distinction from the KJV way, which seems to indicate that the faith is still overcoming the world in the present.