Good Teaching From Elder Bass

Elder Jeremiah Bass, who I recently wrote about as being called to serve as senior pastor at Cincinnati Primitive Baptist Church, and who was at one time a Hardshell preacher, along with his church "Shiloh" in Stephenville, Texas, has written some good articles over the years in which he is at odds with most of those today who call themselves "Primitive Baptists." I would like to point out some of these good things that Bass has written on the subject of salvation. As I mentioned previously, this church at one time had the name "Shiloh Primitive Baptist Church," but dropped the "primitive" part a few years back. Looking at his views, one can see why. They are not in keeping with most "Primitive Baptists," except those like the Eastern Association of Primitive Baptists.

Bass wrote on Romans chapter 10 (highlighting mine):

"You may be a nice person and a good neighbor; but if you are not a conscious disciple of Jesus Christ, then you are not saved according to the gospel which Paul and the apostles of Christ proclaimed."

"On the other hand, even among those who recognize that the gospel demands more than mere niceness, there is nevertheless the tendency to dumb it down, and to make it nothing more than a call for people to sign their names on a card or to say a canned prayer. There is no call for repentance from sins, especially specific sins in the life. They are content for people to have Christ as Savior who will never have him as Lord. But as we shall see, this also is foreign to the Biblical gospel proclaimed by Paul."

Amen. Let us hope that Bass and Cincinnati will be calling sinners to repentance and to receive Christ for salvation.

Bass wrote:

"So what does Paul say? He says at least four things. In this passage we see the impossibility of the gospel’s alternatives (5), the accessibility of the gospel’s message (6-7), the simplicity of the gospel’s demands (8-10), and the universality of the gospel’s call (11-13)."

"They failed to see that those who are united to Christ by faith are made righteous, not those who by law-keeping seek to become righteous."  

"United to Christ by faith"! That is the message I have constantly put forth in this blog. It is the central message. Faith is what receives and unites with Christ.

Bass wrote:

"Here we see that the response demanded in the gospel is one that corresponds to the news given. If it is true that Jesus Christ has finished the work of redemption, if it is true that he has accomplished salvation for us, then redemption and righteousness as a whole is something which we must receive from him. How do we receive it? We receive it by faith. The word preached is thus “the word of faith.”"

"Faith is the means by which we receive the free gift of salvation and righteousness. Faith is the open-hand of the beggar who comes pleading for grace and mercy from the Most High. It is fitting for us to receive salvation in this way, because in faith and trust we look outside of ourselves. It is impossible to be truly trusting in Christ for salvation while leaning on your own goodness and righteousness."

This is Old Baptist doctrine. The reason why the Hardshells have been dying on the vine is because they have quit preaching this to sinners, a thing Dr. Watson pointed out in his book "The Old Baptist Test."

Bass wrote:

"Nevertheless, this is not mere lip confession. Nor is the faith that saves an empty faith, a mere cognitive acquiescence to certain truths. The faith that saves is a faith the comes from the heart, from the very center of the human soul, and carries with it our will and affections."

"Why does Paul put in confession though? Why does he make salvation in some sense depend on it? He doesn’t do so because confession is what makes us worthy before God. He does so because confessing Christ is the necessary concomitant of saving faith. What I mean by this is that if you truly believe in Jesus you will confess him before men. Confessing Christ, then, is not the ground of our salvation, it is the evidence of it. Confession and faith go together. Where confession is lacking, you can be sure that faith is lacking also. Someone who will not confess Christ is someone who has not trusted in him for his salvation."

Again, this is the historic view of our forefathers. Also, it is clearly the teaching of the apostle in Romans.

Bass wrote:

"Sometimes you will hear well-meaning Christians put down “Lordship salvation” as if it is introducing a new kind of legalism into Christianity. But my friends, it is not. There is no other kind of salvation; if you do not receive Christ as Lord, and if your life does not bear out that relationship, then you are not saved. For the stunning announcement, “you will be saved” (9, cf. ver. 10, 11, 13) is only given to those who receive and believe in Jesus as the risen Lord."

I have been attacked by Hardshells for believing in "Lordship salvation." But, it means all the same as "the perseverance of the saints." 

Bass wrote:

"This is where a good understanding of the total picture the Bible gives us of salvation is so important. Faith does not come out of nowhere. It is the gift of God, created in the heart by the Holy Spirit who regenerates us and brings us out of a state of spiritual death. In doing so, he makes us new creatures, gives us new affections, and begets in us new desires. Faith is born in that context, so saving faith is also a holy faith."

Tuesday, August 4, 2020 "What must I do to be saved? Romans 10: 5-13" (here)

In another lesson Elder Bass had these remarks on Romans chapter one, especially verse 16.

"In all these verses, the apostle underlines the fact that God’s power is at work through the gospel. As we noted a couple of sermons ago, this is because it is through the gospel that God effectually calls people to faith in Christ."

Apparently Cincinnati church believes this now or else she would not have called Bass to pastor. It is what she first believed before she became a Hardshell church. It is a clear statement of gospel means and is the Old Baptist position.

Bass wrote:

"And it is important to see that the power of God is connected to the gospel. There are some who will so focus on the power of God to the point that the gospel plays no role in the salvation of the sinner. But this is not how the apostle puts it...The power of God does not operate independently of the gospel, but with and through the gospel. It is the gospel which is the power of God unto salvation."

By "some" he clearly is referring to the anti means Hardshells. I give my hearty amen.

Bass wrote:

"Now the salvation the apostle is speaking of here is spiritual salvation unto eternal life. This is clear from the next verse (18) where the apostle begins to unpack man’s need in terms of the wrath of God. The salvation which the gospel brings us is salvation from the wrath of God."

That is a statement denying Hardshellism. Praise be the Lord. No "time salvation" here!

Bass wrote:

"Let me tell you, it is better to live your entire life in obscurity while having led just one person to faith in Christ than to be the richest person in the world with all the fame and notoriety and worldly pleasure and comfort that riches bring."

I hope that brother Bass will keep that perspective always in the forefront as he serves the Lord at Cincinnati. Such a Spurgeon type remark!

Bass wrote:

"How does it come? It comes to “to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” How do people get saved? They are saved by simply trusting in Christ, by believing the gospel. This is true of all people. There are no distinctions. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you’ve come from, what your past or present experiences are. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. What matters is what Jesus Christ did and it is by faith that we become connected to his saving work."

I hope more Hardshell churches will embrace the real "Old Baptist" or "Primitive" faith and believe these things that Bass has declared. I have in Bass's latest blog post given him my best wishes for his new work in Cincinnati. Let us all pray for him.