1 Peter 2:15-17 — For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

In our church we celebrated America today. We love to join worship and patriotism on the Sunday before the Fourth of July.
The beautiful song “My Country, ‘Tis Of Thee” has a verse that pulled out a key theme for me:

Our fathers’ God to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright,
With freedom’s holy light,
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God our King.

Freedom is the key. But freedom is an interesting thing. Freedom, despite what many might think is not a benefit conferred by a benevolent government. It is, and the founders rightly declared, a right with which we are endowed by our creator.
What is this thing called “freedom”? It is the right to choose. What is more, it is a right we share with our creator. It is not just the right that we share. We share the mystery of freedom too. For somehow, the exercise of freedom limits choices — His, and ours.
God gave Adam and Eve freedom of choice. When they exercised their choice, and chose to sin, He put into play His plan of redemption. Could He have chosen to do otherwise? Did His very nature, completely good, completely loving, compel Him? Where then, is perfect freedom?
The case for the limits on human freedom is more often debated, but equally hard to understand. We know these verses so very well:

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (Romans 8:29-30)

But at the heart of these verses lies a mystery. If we are predestined to salvation, where is our freedom of choice?
Freedom, it seems, has its limits — but the limits are there because of our nature. Peter said it — we are free, but as the servants of God. We are bound to love the brotherhood, fear God, and honor the king — or, in America, love the Republic.
I know I haven’t done a great job of explaining what I’m trying to understand about freedom and its limits. If it’s clearer to you, please help me out!