The word “but” contrasts this phrase with the preceding possibility of using freedom to cover up (justify) what is seen as evil conduct. The additional words “as servants of God” explain how Peter wants his readers to use their God-given freedom: to satisfy not their own desires but God’s wishes, which includes advancing the gospel (1 Peter 2:12). Peter had already said in 1 Peter 2:9 that his readers were “a people for his own possession” and in 1 Peter 2:10 that “you are God’s people.” They did not, then, own themselves, nor were they supreme in their own lives, but as people freed from the narrow view of reality characteristic of spiritual unborns, they were now free to serve God in their community. Four commands follow to explain what this freedom to serve looks like.
16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.