Christ during his lifetime, it may have been an act of pure relation; but pure relation by itself can get nothing done. As von Seekt said, “Will without spirit is blind; spirit without will is impotent”. The only confidence that stems from pure relation is the willingness to sacrifice oneself. The disciples did not even have that confidence, because it is clear that by the time of the crucifixion their confidence was bankrupt.
What it is impossible to dismiss, on reading the gospels, is that the early Christians were absolutely convinced that Christ had risen from the dead. All the miracles reported in the gospels may be phoney, all the teaching hearsay and a bit garbled, all descriptions of his commanding physical presence may be hero worship; but it is impossible to read about the gloom of Good Friday, and the evident joy of Easter, and not conclude that people were convinced (rightly or wrongly) that he was alive again. Their vision was the shattering revelation (as they thought) that everything which he had lived for, and died for, had come true. Naturally with that conviction they were prepared to follow his Spirit to the ends of the known world. Their enthusiasm must have surpassed that of Napoleon's soldiers after Austerlitz.
It is in this way that I have chosen to answer the question “What happens when a man has confidence that any corruption of consciousness in himself can be overcome?”. My answer is that he becomes a leader, and the rest of mankind must just hope that he leads them towards immortality, and not away from it.