Self-reliance and God

That is just what we, the children of Adam, refuse to do. That is the rebellion of sin in which we hourly repeat the rebellion of Adam. Adam refused to preserve the order of paradise, refused to keep within the limits of creatureliness imposed upon him by the creator, refused to contain himself within the bounds of God's will, and now man, as Adam's child, refuses to fit into the order of restoration; mankind will not admit that they are flesh standing under judgement and can live only by grace. They will not admit that God is right in his verdict on them, and thus cling only to God's mercy manifest in his very judgement, cling only to God's forgiveness which carries in its heart the judgement of the sin of the forgiven. Humanity resents that utter reliance on God; men and women want at least to co-operate with God in saving their lives — but that is the very way to lose their lives for by that very process sin is not really acknowledged, and its judgement and condemnation in the flesh are not really accepted.—T. F. Torrance, Incarnation: The Person and Life of Christ, 72