"I am a Christian."
The young man said nothing else as he stood before the Roman governor, his life hanging in the balance. His accusers pressed him again, hoping to trip him up or force him to recant. But once more, he answered with the same short phrase, "I am a Christian."
It was the middle of the second century, where Christianity was illegal and believers throughout the Roman empire faced the threat of imprisonment, torture or death. Sanctus, a deacon from Vienna, had been arrested and brought to trial. The young man was repeatedly told to renounce his faith. But his resolve was undeterred. "I am a Christian."
When at least it became obvious that he would say nothing else, he was condemned to severe torture and a public death in the amphitheater. On the day of his execution, he was forced to run the gauntlet, subjected to wild beasts, and fastened to a chair of burning iron. Throughout all of it, his accusers kept trying to break him, convinced that his resistance would crack under the pain of torment.
But as Eusebius recounted, "He did not utter a word except the confession he had uttered from the beginning."
His dying words tell of an undying commitment. His rallying cry remained constant throughout his entire trial. "I am a Christian."
Matt 24:13 "But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved."
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