If You Can Keep It!
Written by Dale Ebel
I Welcome Your Biblical Perspective
From the must-read book If You Can Keep It by Eric Metaxas, he tells the story of Dr. James McHenry, a delegate from Maryland, who recorded a dialogue between Benjamin Franklin and a Mrs. Powell after the Constitutional Convention concluded.
As Franklin emerged from the building that day, he was approached by a certain Mrs. Powell of Philadelphia. According to McHenry, Mrs. Powell asked Franklin directly:
“Well, Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?”
Franklin, who was rarely short on wit or wisdom, responded:
“A republic, Madam—if you can keep it.”
(See pages 8–9.)
Because the Founders created a Republic, it would be “We the People,” in the famous phrase, who must keep it. The document—and the men who created it—placed these unimaginably great and fragile gifts into the hands of the people.
So these things—still unimaginably great—are now in our hands at this very moment. We ourselves are the keepers of the flame of liberty and the ones charged by Franklin, the other Founders, and by history itself with preserving this grand promise to the world.
This is the wonderful and spectacular genius of it all—and also the sobering danger of it all.
The Important Difference Between Freedom and Liberty
Freedom
Freedom is often defined as independence—the license to do as one wants, the permission to do as one pleases. It means you have the right to do something: a measure of granted authority for autonomy, self-determination, or self-government.
But freedom has one potential deficiency—it can be narrowly understood as merely having permission. And permission is necessarily granted by someone, which means freedom can also be revoked by that someone.
Metaxas provides important insights about “ordered freedom,” which must be at the center of what we call self-government, and the necessity of remaining free from tyrannical government. (See pages 29–36.)
For about $10, consider purchasing copies of If You Can Keep It and giving them to people within your webs of relationships. Our grandson J.J. and I heard Eric Metaxas speak this Memorial Day weekend (2026), and we personally spoke with him while he signed his book his book Revolution: The Birth of the Greatest Nation in the History of the World.
I told him I believed he was a prophetic voice to modern-day Christendom. He responded, “Pray for me.”
I truly believe the world—and Followers of Christ—are standing at a hinge in history. Which way will the door swing for America—open or closed? Let us do all we can to keep our liberty intact.
Liberty
Liberty is the innate, God-given right and privilege to make choices. This is one reason why the Torah speaks so often about choice.
[Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV]
“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life…”
Because we are created in God’s Image, we possess the liberty to choose.
While liberty includes freedom and independence, it carries with it one irrevocable nuance of profound importance—it has everything to do with the Source.
Liberty, second only to life itself, is an inalienable right endowed by the Creator. It is part of who we are—just as our mind, will, emotions, and spirit are part of us. It cannot justly be revoked.
Liberty provides protection for individual rights precisely because humanity has been endowed by Elohim-God with the capacity for self-government.
[1 Kings 4:25]
“During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree.”
On November 9, 1620, the Mayflower landed near Cape Cod. After traveling approximately 2,750 miles at an average speed of under two miles per hour, the voyage to the New World was about to end.
William Brewster led the Pilgrims in Psalm 100 as a prayer of thanksgiving. While still aboard that storm-tossed ship, they penned the Mayflower Compact, which would eventually help shape the spirit of our Constitution.
The Pilgrims had been taught well by Reverend John Robinson, who instructed them in the biblical basis for self-government. Their freedoms and liberties to govern themselves were rooted in the passage, 1 Kings 4:25.
Self-government, by its very nature, yields peace—“every man under his vine and his fig tree.”
Freedom is something government grants;
Liberty is something we possess that government cannot justly take away.
Compared to liberty, freedom can be somewhat feeble. Certain freedoms can be revoked, and rights can be violated or rescinded. But liberty cannot rightfully be violated except by the Creator—or by the individual who chooses to surrender it.
If an individual encroaches upon the liberty of others, he has chosen to violate the laws of civilization. At that point, governing authorities may rightly step in to protect the liberty of others.
Under liberty, this is one of the few legitimate reasons government intervenes.
Under mere freedom, however, others—including the State—can negate individual rights whenever they gain enough political, physical, or military power to do so.
As my good friend Fritz says:
“I am not concerned about a well-armed populace, but I am concerned about a well-armed State that can take away our liberties.”
At times freedoms can also disappear through majority rule, where one group votes another group’s freedoms out of existence.
Not so with liberty.
America’s Founders understood this deeply, which is why they insisted upon liberty rather than mere freedom under government. This is also why our Founding Fathers took such great pains to establish a Republic rather than a pure Democracy.
As John Adams said:
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”
Contrary to what many assume, America is not a pure democracy, but a Constitutional Republic.
In a democracy, the people are the ultimate authority, and laws are established by majority rule. This is one reason some today advocate abolishing institutions such as the Electoral College.
History reminds us that language and slogans can also be manipulated. During the rise of Communist China in the 1940s, signs proclaiming “DEMOCRACY” reportedly covered parts of the countryside. In our own neighborhood, I recently noticed a large banner draped across a home reading: “DEFEND DEMOCRACY!”
Some things never seem to change.
(See the excellent little book The Jesus Church in Communist China.)
A Constitutional Republic
A Republic is a representative form of government in which authority rests upon officials elected by the people.
But what makes the American Republic unique is this: ultimate sovereign authority does not rest in elected officials, but in the Constitution to which those officials are subject.
It operates by the consent of the governed in conjunction with the rule of law.
Ah! The importance of laws—and especially biblical laws.
John Adams stated:
“America is a government of laws, and not of men.”
If one understands our national history, many of those laws were profoundly shaped by Holy Scripture. Biblical moral and judicial laws from the Scripture influenced many of our founding documents.
The Hebrew Scriptures significantly shaped this great nation.
One Example of a Biblical Truth Applied
[Deuteronomy 24:14–15 NIV]
“Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy… Pay them their wages each day before sunset…”
The Founders were brilliant men who understood the histories of nations and learned from both successful and failed governments throughout the world.
Communism, despite its promises to elevate the working class, eventually enslaved and destroyed millions.
It is fascinating to me that the Torah already addressed the dignity and protection of workers thousands of years earlier.
The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments likewise emphasize due process and equal protection under the law.
What irony that many who embraced communism in the last century believed they were discovering new ideals of justice, when many of those moral principles already existed in the Scriptures all along.
As history revealed, under communist regimes tens of millions lost their rights, their freedoms, and often their lives.
Personally, I believe socialism is a stepping stone toward centralized governmental control if left unchecked.
Hello! The God-inspired Torah is replete with wisdom—wisdom is making right decisions and discerning what is best based upon learned experience.
Biblical Law and Our National Heritage
Sir William Blackstone, the famed Oxford law professor and author of Commentaries on the Laws of England, was one of the most cited legal authorities during America’s founding era.
His writings are filled with references to Scriptural law, which deeply influenced many of the Founders.
As an aside, I believe the subtle marginalization of biblical law within much of modern Christianity has contributed greatly to our ignorance regarding our nation’s historical foundations.
For many believers today, “the Law” has strangely become foreign to our Christian sensibilities.
[Hosea 8:12 KJV]
“I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.”
At times, while pastoring at Rolling Hills, I was criticized by well-meaning but myopic individuals—principally some elders—who lacked what I would call a Biblical Total Truth Worldview regarding liberty and freedom in America.
I simply encouraged believers to register and vote according to a biblically informed conscience, yet was accused of being a “Reconstructionist,” as though I were attempting to usher in a theocracy run by pastors!
In hindsight, I chuckle at the thought. 😀
I would have no idea how to establish a theocracy.
I merely encouraged Christians to exercise their constitutional rights responsibly and thoughtfully. That still seems rather basic to me.
The Importance of Educated Memory
When a nation forgets—or becomes ignorant of—its roots, decline follows sooner or later.
Research published in The New York Times in 2011, based on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), revealed widespread deficiencies in American students’ understanding of our nation’s history.
American students scored lower in history than in virtually every other major subject area.
As philosopher George Santayana famously said:
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
In many ways I consider myself an American patriot, but my highest loyalty is to the Kingdom of God.
I often describe myself as a Kingdom Patriot. 😀
May I ask you: would you step it up a notch or two in becoming a biblical loyalist—honoring both your citizenship in Heaven (Philippians 3:20) and your responsibilities here on earth (Philippians 1:27)?
Friends, by reading and studying resources such as the Founders’ Bible, your understanding of both biblical and American history can deepen and stabilize your faith while helping you navigate the challenges ahead.
PLEASE consider immersing yourself in this extraordinary resource—and then passing it along to those you love.
Give Me Liberty
With freedom, individual rights are often subject to interpretation by the authority granting them.
In democracies, rights can be altered or removed by majority rule or by the power of the State.
Liberty is altogether different.
Liberty is one of the inalienable rights granted by God and protected within our Constitutional Republic. It cannot rightfully be taken away—even by unjust governments or shifting majorities.
This is one reason the Judeo-Christian ethic was so foundational to America’s Founders. They accepted the reality of a Supreme Being revealed in the Bible.
Understanding this distinction gives fresh meaning to Patrick Henry’s famous declaration:
“Give me liberty, or give me death!”
And perhaps Benjamin Franklin summarized it memorably:
“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!”
Concluding Comments
America’s Founders looked to the Torah as a source of divine wisdom for building a free nation.
That is why they engraved a verse from Leviticus upon the Liberty Bell:
“Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”
—Leviticus 25:10
The Founders also believed such a Republic could survive only if its people and leaders derived their moral values from the God of the Bible.
So the question remains:
ARE WE WILLING TO KEEP IT?
Responses to This Teaching
- Name two concepts you did not know prior to reading this article.
- Become a moral activist by supporting organizations working to preserve constitutional principles and moral clarity.
- Distinguish the difference between liberty and freedom.
- Do you vote for candidates who uphold constitutional principles?
- Name three behaviors you are practicing to help KEEP OUR REPUBLIC.
- Which quote from the Founders or others most captured your attention?
- Take one truth from this teaching and explain it to someone else.
- Please read this article aloud to yourself or another person.
Suggested Resources:
a. legal immigration, or the corruption of voter fraud, (Judicial Watch www.judicialwatch.org; and Center for Law and Justice, www.cflj.
b. Combating transgendersim in schools, Parents Rights in Education https://parentsrightsineducation.com
c. instituting moral values in our schools, Prager U. https://www.prageru.com
d. please read and follow Eric Metaxas,
e. read and re-read the Founders’ Bible; www.wallbuilders.com
f. voting for righteous competent candidates for school boards, city council, mayors, and governors. The Christian Voters Guides.
Linda and I have given financially to all the above organizations.
I conclude with a quote from Horace Greeley (1811–1872), influential newspaper editor and founder of the New York Tribune:
“It is impossible to enslave, mentally or socially, a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom.”
And I might add:
A Bible-obeying people. 😀
Attempting to Keep Our Liberty with You,
Dale