"...the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin"

From The Prodigal God by Tim Keller:

In her novel Wise Blood, Flannery O'Connor says of her character Hazel Motes that "there was a deep, black, wordless conviction in him that the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin." This is a profound insight. You can avoid Jesus as Savior by keeping all the moral laws. If you do that, then you have "rights." God owes you answered prayers, and a good life, and a ticket to heaven when you die. You don't need a Savior who pardons you by free grace, for you are your own Savior.

Additional Resources
Lyndsey Jacobellis, the Olympics and Religion