‘As free’ – here is a significant factor added to this exhortation. The ones who are free are those who have just been commanded to submit, but that command does not imply they are still slaves to human authority.
The state often tries to overstep the mark, especially where these freedoms are not recognized. Islam is a religion which, when it can, unites state and religion, and claims an authority over the conscience which it has not been given. Roman Catholicism has often used state power to do the same. No man can tell us what to believe or how to worship God. Those things must be revealed by God. Nevertheless, Christ tells us there are large areas of life where it is his will that we obey the civil authorities, and so we must be careful not to misuse our liberty.