At the University of Iowa, a student stood before Ben Shapiro and asked a question that had little to do with elections, borders or the future of the Republican Party. Why, he wanted to know, was Shapiro unwilling to become a Christian? The answer, given on October 8 at a Turning Point USA event, traveled far beyond the room. For a moment, the argument moved from the future of America to the destiny of a human soul.
Shapiro explained the teaching of his Orthodox Jewish faith. Gentiles, he said, can enter heaven by keeping seven basic commandments called the Noahide Laws. Avoid murder, theft, sexual immorality, blasphemy and the other forbidden acts. Then came his astonishing conclusion: “If you do those things, you’re in heaven.”
Shapiro was answering a sincere question about Judaism. Afterward, he encouraged the student to keep believing in Jesus and attending church. Those details belong in any honest account. Yet the central claim deserves a Christian response, especially when spoken from a stage supported and admired by so many who profess Christ.
Seven commandments. A place in heaven and a Savior apparently unnecessary to the journey.
There is a reason this answer can sound reasonable in a political auditorium. Citizens who disagree about worship can agree that stealing is wrong and judges should punish evil. Such agreement can steady a community. Yet a country’s need for decent neighbors and a sinner’s need for reconciliation with God are different questions.
The Noahide Laws belong to rabbinic Jewish tradition, where they describe moral obligations for Gentiles. Several of their commands agree with Scripture, and obedience to God’s moral law is good. Our disagreement concerns something far more serious than the number of commandments. Can the hands that have sinned somehow wash themselves clean by keeping a few more rules?
Consider Abraham. Long before Israel stood at Sinai, God promised an aging, childless man descendants as numerous as the stars. Abraham looked into a dark sky and believed the Lord. Genesis 15:6 says that God counted his faith as righteousness. The father of the Jewish people had nothing with which to purchase that verdict. He received God’s promise.
Then picture the first Passover. Inside small homes in Egypt, families waited for judgment to pass through the land. On their doorposts was the blood of a lamb. Scripture tells us nothing about those households having earned exemption through superior conduct. Their safety rested on what God had provided and commanded. The blood stood between the people and the judgment coming through the night.
At Sinai, the rescued nation received God’s law. Notice the order. God delivered them from bondage before the commandments were given. The law revealed His holiness, exposed their sin and taught them how a redeemed people ought to live. Sacrifices followed because Israel, like the rest of humanity, could never produce the spotless obedience God’s holiness requires. At every altar, worshipers faced the cost of guilt. Beneath the priest’s hands lay an unanswered question: Who can finally take sin away?
That question runs through the Old Testament until it reaches Jesus Christ.
Paul understood the Jewish Scriptures and loved his own people enough to grieve over their unbelief. His words in Romans 10 carry the weight of affection: “My heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.” He knew the danger of seeking righteousness through one’s own efforts. The answer he preached was Christ, the fulfillment of the law for everyone who believes.
I think of the people who sit in the pews of our little church in the Missouri Ozarks. Some have buried people they loved and I am sure others bring regrets they never speak aloud. Down the pew, a grandmother remembers words she wishes she could take back. Even the church member whose neighbors call him a good man knows what hides behind his Sunday clothes. What can I say to such people? Keep seven rules? Try harder tomorrow? Bring the Lord a cleaner record than yesterday’s?
They need better news than that. So do I.
On a hill outside Jerusalem, Jesus went willingly beneath the judgment sinners deserve. The Son of God lived the life we owed and laid down the life we forfeited. Nails tore His flesh. Darkness covered the land. He bore sin and its penalty in the place of His people and on the third day He rose from the grave. His resurrection announces that the sacrifice was accepted and death was defeated. The gospel calls us to repent and trust Him, to receive a righteousness we could never manufacture.
That is why Shapiro’s statement cannot be treated as a harmless variation on Christian belief. We can respect his right to explain Judaism and still say, with the apostles, that salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone. Nor should criticism of a doctrine turn into contempt for Jewish people. Paul prayed for his people with tears. Christian witness should carry the same urgency and affection.
What, then, about Turning Point USA? Charlie Kirk welcomed Shapiro as a speaker at AmericaFest in 2024. His appearance on a TPUSA stage is no recent theological revolution. The Iowa gathering was a civic event; TPUSA states that speakers express their own views rather than its official positions. Meanwhile, TPUSA Faith publicly describes its Make Heaven Crowded Tour as a call to repentance and faith in Jesus. Those facts deserve the same visibility as the viral clip.
Still, a Christian donor has every reason to ask careful questions. Where does my money go? Am I supporting civic advocacy, a distinctly Christian ministry, or some combination? How clearly does the organization distinguish its political partnerships from its proclamation of the gospel? TPUSA allows gifts to be directed toward particular departments, including TPUSA Faith. A thoughtful answer begins by knowing what you are helping to fund, rather than blaming an entire organization for one guest’s theology. The local church has its own calling, carried out through ordinary preaching, prayer, discipleship and mercy. Christians should never confuse supporting a movement with supporting that work.
The deeper danger may be closer to home. American Christians can become so eager for someone to defend our values that we stop asking what he believes about our Savior. We can mistake the applause of a friendly crowd for the triumph of the gospel. Even worse, we can condemn someone else’s confidence in good deeds while quietly trusting our church attendance, our moral convictions or our influence to commend us to God.
Christ did not go to Calvary to add an eighth rule to a respectable life. He went because our best record could never erase our worst sin. Political causes will rise and fall. Famous voices will eventually fall silent. The crucified and risen Jesus remains the only refuge for guilty people, whether they stand behind a microphone, write a check, or sit unnoticed in a country church.
Seven laws can instruct the conscience. Only Christ can cleanse it.
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