I think sometimes people get the wrong idea about freedom and liberty - i.e., that we have to liberty to do wrong. Americans have the freedom to travel pretty much wherever and whenever we please. Yet there are innumerable laws that govern our "freedom of travel." Order, safety, and the general welfare demand it. And there are consequences - both natural and legal - for violating those laws.
Same with the laws of nature. You have the freedom to cliff dive. Land on a rock, and the laws of physics exact a severe and potentially fatal penalty.
In the end we are really only free to do right. There are consequences for doing wrong. There will be an immediate or eventual natural (cause and effect) consequence for doing wrong. And ultimately there will be a divine consequence. God has appointed a day in which Jesus Christ will judge the world in righteousness. He has given assurance of this to everyone in that he raised Jesus from the dead.
In light of this coming judgment, God commands all people everywhere to repent of their sins, and trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Happy Fourth.
