View this email in your browser

It's Saturday, March 23, 2024.

Today’s edition covers newly released undercover footage of abortion workers discussing baby organ harvesting, whether baptism is necessary for salvation, and much more.

“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?” (Proverbs 1:22). Here’s some knowledge.

Of Christian Concern

UNDERCOVER FOOTAGE EXPOSES BABY ORGAN HARVESTING BLACK MARKET (AGAIN)

Screenshot of YouTube thumbnail featuring founder and president David Daleiden at Tuesday’s congressional hearing. (The Center for Medical Progress / YouTube)

At a congressional hearing on Tuesday, anti-abortion activist David Daleiden revealed “previously unreleased” undercover footage of abortion providers making some scandalous admissions.

In one clip, an abortionist discusses a method she used to avoid violating the federal ban on partial birth abortion (PBA). “Like if I’m doing a procedure, and I’m seeing that I’m in fear that it’s about to come to the umbilicus, I might ask for a second set of forceps to hold the body at the cervix and pull off a leg or two, so it’s not PBA.”

She proceeds to tell Daleiden, who is posing as a buyer of aborted fetal body parts, that “even if I can’t get it out intact, I can still get you a good sample.” Other clips likewise exposed Planned Parenthood’s willingness to illegally sell fetal body parts.

The opening comments by Daleiden, the founder and president of The Center for Medical Progress—which famously exposed Planned Parenthood’s baby organ harvesting activities in 2015—can be viewed here. The full hearing, called “Investigating the Black Market of Baby Organ Harvesting,” can be viewed here.

Also Noteworthy

Riley Gaines, pictured here at the 2023 Pastor’s Summit. (Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED)

→ Riley Gaines and other female athletes sue NCAA for allowing men to compete as women.

→ Pornhub’s site pulls out of Texas due to the state’s age-verification law.

→ Florida Sen. Ron DeSantis authorizes rescue flights to get American missionaries and other Americans out of Haiti. The first flight of rescued U.S. citizens landed in Florida on Wednesday. Missionary Jill Dolan and her four children, however, are still trapped.

→ The U.S. Supreme Court rejects the appeal of a professing Christian couple who lost custody of their trans-identified child. The Indiana parents claim discrimination against their views on transgenderism, while the state claims they failed to provide medical care for the child’s eating disorder.

→ The Chosen, the hit series about Jesus, seeks to dissolve its relationship with the show’s distributor Angel Studios due to an alleged breach of contract. The legal issues have delayed the release of the show’s fourth season.

→ A new documentary titled “Christspiracy” argues that Jesus was a vegetarian.

Content Catch-Up

Recent, notable content by Christian creators, or of Christian interest.*

Detroit Pistons player Jaden Ivey at his postgame press conference on March 7, 2024. (Screenshot: Hoops Postgame / YouTube)

→ “Ordinary Christians”: “Let us thank God for all the ordinary Christians,” biblical scholar Chad Bird begins. The post on X, which many readers found touching, is an ode to “ordinary Christians.” Do you qualify?  (Post)

→ “Jesus Is Coming Back”: During a postgame press conference after a win against the Brooklyn Nets two weeks ago, Detroit Pistons basketball player Jaden Ivey makes a point to share his faith and call people to repentance. (Video)

→ “Good!”: Christian rapper Nigil Lee was featured on Rapzilla last week for his new song, “For Me (Good!),” which extols God for life’s blessings. (Music)

*Not necessarily an endorsement

The Bible, Briefly

Milk: Instruction About Washings (cont.)

Photo: pastoruben

We’re studying “milk”—the six foundational topics of Christian doctrine (Hebrews 5:12-6:2), which the Bible presents in three pairs. Last week we saw that “instructions about washings” refers to baptisms. We continue that discussion now.

The how, who, and when of baptism are debated issues, even among professing believers who otherwise seem to agree on essential matters. There are, however, correct answers to the fundamental questions. We’ll look at just one of the issues—the most important one.

Baptism and Salvation

Some traditions under the umbrella of Christendom—including the Catholic Church, Orthodox churches, the Lutheran  Church, the Church of England, and the Church of Christ, among others—believe that baptism is, in most cases, necessary for salvation (called “baptismal regeneration”). They sometimes point to verses like Mark 16:16, John 3:5, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, Galatians 3:27, and 1 Peter 3:21. All of these verses, however, have “biblically and contextually sound interpretations…that do not support baptismal regeneration.”To get to the heart of the matter, there’s a major problem with saying baptism is necessary for salvation: it would mean that we contribute something to our own salvation—which the Bible clearly denies. If one is saved by baptism, then one is saved at least in part by one’s own action rather than entirely by Jesus’ action. By contrast, the Bible says:

• “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9; cf. Romans 6:23)

• “‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.’ Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (Romans 4:3–5)

• “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30)

So, our salvation has nothing to do with anything we do. It is a gift received by faith and based entirely on what Jesus already “finished” by living sinlessly and paying for the penalty of our sin when He died. No action of ours can add to that.

Saving faith always results in good works (James 2:14-18). It is always marked by obedience (John 14:15; 1 John 3:6). That means obedience—including to the command of baptism (e.g., Matthew 28:19)—is preceded by salvation, not the other way around:

Faith → Salvation → Obedience (including baptism)

This matter is essential to get right. If someone supposes that their baptism had a part in saving them, they are believing a false gospel—a gospel that in fact does not save. While there are things, like baptism, that every believer must do (and that refusing to do indicates one hasn’t truly submitted to Christ), we must rest all our hope of salvation on Jesus and His actions alone, not on any action that we ourselves performed.

We can and should recall our baptism to remind ourselves that we are in Christ (Colossians 2:12), unified with other believers (Ephesians 4:5), and free from sin once and for all (Romans 6:3). But we must never forget that baptism itself isn’t how we got any of those things. Rather, it’s the symbol of them.

To be continued…

What did you think of today’s briefing?

Know someone who would enjoy this?Please SHARE this newsletter

Have some feedback for me? Reply to this email with comments or suggestions. I’d love to hear from you!

Why "18:15"? The name Project 18:15 is based on Proverbs 18:15: “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” The aim is for this weekly email—a Christian news briefing, a Bible study, and a Church history lesson rolled into one—to be one way you keep abreast of current events and acquire knowledge you might not acquire elsewhere.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Copyright (C) " target="_blank">unsubscribe.