confession of Christ._
For whatever unbaptized persons die confessing Christ, this
confession is of the same efficacy for the remission of sins as if
they were washed in the sacred font of baptism. For He who said,
"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter
into the kingdom of God,"[581] made also an exception in their
favour, in that other sentence where He no less absolutely said,
"Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess also
before my Father which is in heaven;"[582] and in another place,
"Whosoever will lose his life for my sake, shall find it."[583] And
this explains the verse, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of His saints."[584] For what is more precious than a death
by which a man's sins are all forgiven, and his merits increased an
hundredfold? For those who have been baptized when they could no
longer escape death, and have departed this life with all their sins
blotted out, have not equal merit with those who did not defer death,
though it was in their power to do so, but preferred to end their
life by confessing Christ, rather than by denying Him to secure an
opportunity of baptism. And even had they denied Him under pressure
of the fear of death, this too would have been forgiven them in
that baptism, in which was remitted even the enormous wickedness of
those who had slain Christ. But how abundant in these men must have
been the grace of the Spirit, who breathes where He listeth, seeing
that they so dearly loved Christ as to be unable to deny Him even in
so sore an emergency, and with so sure a hope of pardon! Precious,
therefore, is the death of the saints, to whom the grace of Christ
has been applied with such gracious effects, that they do not
hesitate to meet death themselves, if so be they might meet Him. And
precious is it, also, because it has proved that what was originally
ordained for the punishment of the sinner, has been used for the
production of a richer harvest of righteousness. But not on this
account should we look upon death as a good thing, for it is diverted
to such useful purposes, not by any virtue of its own, but by the
divine interference. Death was originally proposed as an object of
dread, that sin might not be committed; now it must be undergone that
sin may not be committed, or, if committed, be remitted, and the
award of righteousness bestowed on him whose victory has earned it.