As someone who has worked in elementary schools for several years, I have to report that I have heard teachers, principals, etc. make statements like that to students at school!
The idea is to teach personal responsibility, and making choices. So when kids say "he made me do it", they tell the kids that no one can make you do something, only you can control you.
Your son sounds very smart! And that is actually pretty low level defiance, all things considered. Listen when he says things like this, and ask him to explain. Does he think you are making a wrong call (like a bad referee in a game), or does he think he just shouldn't have to do anything that he is told, at all?
It matters if he is saying it in a challenging or intimidating "make me" kind of way, or if he is just being sincere, thinking things through, as a smart kid does.
Make sure he understands that the "negative consequences" of not following/respecting rules are NOT JUST the punishments like losing tangible items or special activities. There are actually worse consequences he can't see...
I tell my sons that the MOST important rewards and punishments are in the ways people FEEL toward them. If someone lies, cheats, steals, breaks rules, or is defiant or rude to me---I am not happy with them. I might feel anger, resentment, sadness... and I don't trust them anymore and I lose respect for them (for a while at least). Then I am in a bad mood, and I don't enjoy being around them for some period of time, and when they want me to do something for them, I will probably say no.
This is how things work between child peers, and between adults, and between parents and kids. The reverse would also be true---if you let down your son in a big way, if you don't fulfill his reasonable expectations, he's going to be looking at you differently! Like if you forget to pick him up at school or don't provide food for him, or if you start lying to him---you could tell him he can't control you, and that would be true...but he would feel insecure, unsafe, confusion, fear, lack of trust, anger. His whole world would be turned upside down if you suddenly started behaving that way. But there wouldn't be anything HE could do to CONTROL you and make you behave the way he would think you should!
This is not a threat to make, by the way, just a way of helping a kid see the other person's perspective, and think...
It's not about freedom, or age, or controlling anyone. There are unwritten contracts in families and friendships. We want to meet the expectations of family and friends because we care about them--we want to trust each other and meet each others needs. If we only think of ourselves, it all falls apart.
If your son understands this, he will choose his battles carefully, and he will learn to negotiate and back up his reasoning with any facts he can gather. This IS like a (good)teen, and if he is that smart and mature, he might be like a teen sometimes.
But also remind him that it is YOUR JOB to keep him safe, and to teach him the proper way to act so he can be a good kid/teen/adult, so he should trust you to do that job. And if he doesn't understand or doesn't agree with something, he should talk to you about it respectfully when both of you are calm.