1 Peter 2:16

16. As free Compare St. Paul in Galatians 5:13. Free, as being of the royal priesthood, the holy nation, and God’s own people, (1 Peter 2:9,) with the consciousness of superiority to a mere earthly life. But they might not therefore infer a freedom from obligation to obey earthly laws. The Jews were thus misled, claiming to owe allegiance only to God as their King, and stirring up rebellion against the authority of Rome. By a perversion of the true doctrine, this Christian freedom might become a pretext for sedition, and a cloak to cover gross wickedness. The Anabaptists in Germany, and the Fifth-monarchy men in England, in Cromwell’s time, furnish notable illustrations.

Servants of God Free, yet servants; bound to obey God, and therefore to obey those to whom he commands us to submit ourselves.