Make It as Sure as Ye Can
Text: Matthew 27:65; 2 Peter 1:10
Series: Restoration Sermons
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Expository
Learning Objectives
By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:
- Explain why Pilate's "make it as sure as you can" (Matt. 27:65) functions as an ironic text — his best efforts could not stop the resurrection — and why Peter's command to "make certain about His calling and choosing you" (2 Pet. 1:10) is the version that can actually be followed.
- Evaluate each of the four positions presented (infidelity, Protestant faith-only, universalism, Christianity) by the criterion: what is gained by being on the wrong side if you are wrong?
- State what God requires to make eternal life certain: hear, believe, obey.
- Explain why the Christianity position is "the only absolutely sure position" and why no other framework for eternal security is equally safe.
- Apply the "make it as sure as ye can" principle from everyday life (homes, health, business) to the one decision where certainty matters most.
Thesis
Christianity — specifically, the obedient response to the gospel — is the only absolutely sure position for eternal life. Every other position carries a risk that Christianity does not. The call is to make it as sure as ye can.
Burden
Pilate's command was addressed to the guards he sent to seal the tomb: "Make it as sure as you can" (Matt. 27:65). There is irony in the command — his best human effort to make certain of Christ's defeat was the occasion for the most spectacular reversal in history. But the outline takes the phrase and turns it toward the more important certainty: what about eternal life? Is it sure? Can it be made sure? How? The question is not academic — the answer determines everything.
Introduction
"Make it as sure as ye can." Pilate's command to the guards (Matt. 27:65) contains, in its irony, both a warning and an invitation. His best efforts to make certain could not hold. But Peter's command is different: "Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble" (2 Pet. 1:10). This certainty — the certainty of one's calling and election — can be made sure. Peter says so. The question is how.
We apply the principle of certainty to everything that matters in ordinary life: homes, business relationships, health, this life. We insure, we document, we test, we double-check — because we do not want to discover, after it is too late, that we relied on something that could not hold. How much more should this principle govern our approach to eternal life?
I. The Four Positions
The presents four positions about eternal life and tests each by a simple criterion: what is the cost of being wrong?
Infidelity holds that there is no God, no revelation, no judgment, no eternity — only this life and its cessation. Suppose infidelity is true and Christianity is false: what is gained by having lived as a Christian? Nothing is lost — you lived with purpose, community, moral clarity, and hope, and then you ceased. Now reverse it: suppose Christianity is true and infidelity is false. What is the cost of having lived as an infidel? Everything — the forfeiture of eternal life for the sake of not believing. The asymmetry is decisive. Infidelity is not a safe position. It offers everything at risk for no gain.
Protestant justification by faith only holds that a person is saved by faith alone, without the works of obedience. the test is careful: if this doctrine is true, and a person believes as James 2:24 — "a man is justified by works and not by faith alone" — is he not safe? He has both faith and the obedience that faith produces. He has not lost anything by obedience. But if "faith only" is false and the person relied on it, he has lost everything. The position that requires both faith and obedience is the safer one on either reading.
Universalism holds that all will ultimately be saved regardless of their response in this life. You lose nothing by being a Christian if universalism is true — you gain the benefits of Christian living and you arrive at the same destination as everyone else. But if universalism is false — if the judgment is real and the separation is real — then the universalist position is catastrophic. Again, the asymmetry favors Christianity.
Christianity — the obedient response to the gospel — is the only absolutely sure position. On its own terms, it leads to salvation. On the terms of every competing position, it costs nothing. There is no scenario in which obedient Christianity, fully lived, leaves the person worse off than any alternative. The competitor positions all carry risk that Christianity does not.
II. How to Make It Sure
The certainty Peter commands is not manufactured by human effort alone — it is received through obedience to what God requires.
God's requirement is clear and three-fold:
Hear his word. "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" (Rom. 10:17). The word of Christ is the means by which the knowledge necessary for response enters the heart. You cannot respond to what you have not heard. Hearing here is not passive reception — it is active, attentive engagement with what God has spoken (Matt. 17:5: "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him").
Believe his teachings. "He who believes in the Son has eternal life" (John 3:36). The belief the New Testament requires is not bare intellectual assent — it is the conviction that produces action. James 2:19 identifies the limit of mere mental agreement: "The demons also believe, and shudder." The belief that saves is the belief that trusts enough to obey. "Repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15) — the two imperatives belong together.
Obey his commandments. "Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city" (Rev. 22:14). The commands are not burdens — they are the shape of the sure path. To hear and believe without obeying is to have the map and not to travel. "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 7:21). The sure path runs through obedience.
The specific commands of the gospel are not vague: hear, believe, repent, be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38). These are not suggestions. They are the instructions for making it as sure as ye can.
Application
Two applications the outline requires:
Have you applied the sureness principle to your eternal life as seriously as you apply it to your earthly affairs? We insure homes, cars, and health because we do not want to find out too late that we needed the coverage. The asymmetry argument applies with infinitely more force to eternal life. What are you relying on for eternal security? Is it as sure as ye can make it?
Have you obeyed the specific commands that constitute the sure response? The path is not obscure. Hear, believe, repent, be baptized. Are you on it? If not — what is the reason for the delay?
Conclusion
Pilate made the tomb as sure as he could. The resurrection made that certainty irrelevant. But Peter's call to make certain about your calling and election can be followed — and followed now, while the day of salvation is still present.
"Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2). The phrase translates kairos dektos — the right moment, the divinely appointed window. The window is open now. The question is whether you will make it as sure as ye can while it is.
The only absolutely sure position is full obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Every other position carries a risk that this one does not. Make it sure.
Invitation
To make it sure requires the response the gospel specifies:
Believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God — the one who rose from the sealed tomb and made Pilate's best efforts irrelevant. Repent of the life that has been organized around things less certain than him. Confess his name. Be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38). And enter the life in which Peter's promise holds: "as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble" (2 Pet. 1:10).
Make it as sure as ye can.
Word Study
| English Term | Greek Term | Basic Meaning | Usage in This Sermon | Sermon Significance | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Make it as sure as you can | asphalisasthe hōs oidate | make secure, make firm | the verb asphalizō means to make fast, to secure against failure | the verb asphalizō means to make fast, to secure against failure; used of the sealing of the tomb; ironic that the command of unbelief becomes the language of Peter's call to certainty (2 Pet. 1:10, bebaian poieisthai: to make firm, to confirm) | Matt. 27:65 |
| Calling and choosing | klēsin kai eklogēn | the divine invitation and the divine selection | Peter's point is that these can be confirmed from the human side through the practices he has just listed (1:5-9: virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, love) | Peter's point is that these can be confirmed from the human side through the practices he has just listed (1:5-9: virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, love) | 2 Pet. 1:10 |
| Never stumble | ou mē ptaisēte | strong negation | you will absolutely not stumble, fall, or fail to reach the destination | you will absolutely not stumble, fall, or fail to reach the destination; the double negative (ou mē) is the strongest form of denial in Greek; this is the language of certainty, not probability | 2 Pet. 1:10 |
| Obey | poiountes tas entolas autou | those doing his commandments | present active participle, continuous action | present active participle, continuous action; the sure path is not a single past act but an ongoing practice of obedience; it is the trajectory of a life, not the record of a moment | Rev. 22:14 |
Scripture Interlock Table
| Theme | Boles' Outline | Supporting Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| "Make it as sure as you can" — Pilate's command; Peter's command | Intro | Matt. 27:65; 2 Pet. 1:10 |
| "Behold, now is the acceptable time" — the window is open | Concl. | 2 Cor. 6:2 |
| "Not by faith alone" — the faith-only position tested | I.b | James 2:24 |
| "Not everyone who says Lord, Lord" — obedience required | II | Matt. 7:21 |
| "Blessed are those who wash their robes" — obedience and the tree of life | II | Rev. 22:14 |
| "Repent and believe in the gospel" — belief that produces action | II | Mark 1:15 |
| Repent and be baptized for the remission of sins | II | Acts 2:38 |
| Hear God's word — faith comes from hearing | II | Rom. 10:17 |
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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 96. Primary texts: Matthew 27:65 and 2 Peter 1:10 (stated by Boles). OCR corrections: none. Doctrinal audit: the four-position analysis retained as Boles's apologetic framework; the "faith only" position identified as James 2:24's denial; the specific commands (hear, believe, repent, baptism — Acts 2:38) retained as the content of "obey his commandments"; the argument from asymmetry developed from Boles's comparative structure; invitation retains full obedient response (Acts 2:38).
