{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>For whatever unbaptized persons die confessing Christ, this\r\nconfession is of the same efficacy for the remission of sins as\r\nif they were washed in the sacred font of baptism. For He\r\nwho said, \"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,\r\nhe cannot enter into the kingdom of God,\"<a id=\"FNanchor_581_581\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_581_581\">[581]</a> made also an exception\r\nin their favour, in that other sentence where He no\r\nless absolutely said, \"Whosoever shall confess me before men,\r\nhim will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven;\"<a id=\"FNanchor_582_582\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_582_582\">[582]</a>\r\nand in another place, \"Whosoever will lose his life for my\r\nsake, shall find it.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_583_583\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_583_583\">[583]</a> And this explains the verse, \"Precious\r\nin the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_584_584\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_584_584\">[584]</a> For\r\nwhat is more precious than a death by which a man's sins are\r\nall forgiven, and his merits increased an hundredfold? For\r\nthose who have been baptized when they could no longer\r\nescape death, and have departed this life with all their sins\r\nblotted out, have not equal merit with those who did not\r\ndefer death, though it was in their power to do so, but preferred\r\nto end their life by confessing Christ, rather than by\r\ndenying Him to secure an opportunity of baptism. And even\r\nhad they denied Him under pressure of the fear of death, this\r\ntoo would have been forgiven them in that baptism, in which\r\nwas remitted even the enormous wickedness of those who had\r\nslain Christ. But how abundant in these men must have\r\nbeen the grace of the Spirit, who breathes where He listeth,\r\nseeing that they so dearly loved Christ as to be unable to deny\r\nHim even in so sore an emergency, and with so sure a hope\r\nof pardon! Precious, therefore, is the death of the saints, to<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_528\">[Pg 528]</a></span>\r\nwhom the grace of Christ has been applied with such gracious\r\neffects, that they do not hesitate to meet death themselves, if\r\nso be they might meet Him. And precious is it, also, because\r\nit has proved that what was originally ordained for the punishment\r\nof the sinner, has been used for the production of a richer\r\nharvest of righteousness. But not on this account should we\r\nlook upon death as a good thing, for it is diverted to such\r\nuseful purposes, not by any virtue of its own, but by the\r\ndivine interference. Death was originally proposed as an\r\nobject of dread, that sin might not be committed; now it must\r\nbe undergone that sin may not be committed, or, if committed,\r\nbe remitted, and the award of righteousness bestowed on him\r\nwhose victory has earned it.</p>","headings":["THE WORKS OF AURELIUS AUGUSTINE,","BOOK THIRTEENTH.","ARGUMENT."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45304-paragraph-906"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"7c91ef95a4b437b442571ea6eb9c313ad82c081be161306ab85a7cf1c27e6ccb","edition_title":"The City of God, Volume I","edition_translators":["Marcus Dods","George Wilson (Book IV)","J. J. Smith (Books V-VIII)"],"edition_year":1871,"explicit_reference_candidates":[{"book":"PSA","chapter":116,"kind":"unreviewed","source_notation":"Ps. cxvi. 15","verse":15,"verse_end":15}],"headings":[],"id":"pg45304-Footnote_584_584","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Provider catalog reports public domain in the USA. Original transcription title leaves state T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1871; printed translator allocation retained. Gutenberg credits Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries without an exact scan identifier. Full provider license preserved with acquired original; republication and per-work metadata remain unreviewed.","source_anchor":"Footnote_584_584","source_ebook":45304,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_584_584\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_584_584\"><span class=\"label\">[584]</span></a> Ps. cxvi. 15.</p></div>","source_sha256":"d89e9a2b80bb59f394f0fb1bf313b39fab162f06af6642166d62c5912c1195f1","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45304/pg45304-images.html#Footnote_584_584","text_sha256":"68ef8a0796cf7f878eec1dc4069a6b8c818c77b5740d479f50f804288db1cc9f","verified":false,"work_id":null}