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The City of God

Chapter 7.--Of the Death Which the Unbaptized ¹ Suffer for the 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," ² made also an exception in their favor, 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;" ³ and in another place, "Whosoever will lose his life for my sake, shall find it." ⁴ And this explains the verse, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." ⁵ 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.

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De civitate Dei (CCSL)

Caput VII: De morte, quam quidam non regenerati pro Christi confessione suscipiunt.

Nam quicumque etiam non percepto regenerationis lauacro pro Christi confessione moriuntur, tantum eis ualet ad dimittenda peccata, quantum si abluerentur sacro fonte baptismatis. qui enim dixit: si quis non renatus fuerit ex aqua et spiritu, non intrabit in regnum caelorum, alia sententia istos fecit exceptos, ubi non minus generaliter ait: qui me confessus fuerit coram hominibus confitebor et ego eum coram patre meo qui in caelis est; et alio loco: qui perdiderit animam suam propter me, inueniet eam. hinc est quod scriptum est: pretiosa in conspectu domini mors sanctorum eius. quid enim pretiosius quam mors, per quam fit ut et delicta omnia dimittantur et merita cumulatius augeantur? neque enim tanti sunt meriti, qui, cum mortem differre non possent, baptizati sunt deletis que omnibus peccatis ex hac uita emigrarunt, quanti sunt hi, qui mortem, cum possent, ideo non distulerunt, quia maluerunt Christum confitendo finire uitam quam eum negando ad eius baptismum peruenire. quod utique si fecissent, etiam hoc eis in illo lauacro dimitteretur, quod timore mortis negauerant Christum, in quo lauacro et illis facinus tam inmane dimissum est, qui occiderant Christum. sed quando sine abundantia gratiae spiritus illius, qui ubi uult spirat, tantum Christum amare possent, ut eum in tanto uitae discrimine sub tanta spe ueniae negare non possent? mors igitur pretiosa sanctorum, quibus cum tanta gratia est praemissa et praerogata mors Christi, ut ad eum adquirendum suam non cunctarentur inpendere, in eos usus redactum esse monstrauit, quod ad poenam peccati antea fuerat constitutum, ut inde iustitiae fructus uberior nasceretur. mors ergo non ideo bonum uideri debet, quia in tantam utilitatem non ui sua, sed diuina opitulatione conuersa est, ut, quae tunc metuenda proposita est, ne peccatum committeretur, nunc suscipienda proponatur, ut peccatum non committatur commissumque deleatur magnae que uictoriae debita iustitiae palma reddatur.