Cain.
Jacob.
Moses.
David.
Paul.
Me.
You?
What do all these have in common? All of us (including maybe you) have needed God to save us from one unstoppable, destructive force.
Ourselves.
The Lord has saved me so often from myself – and yet the beast that is my flesh needs crucifying on a regular basis.
This is why Paul says in Rom. 6.1-6 that we have already put to death and raised to new life with Christ, and in 6.11 that we must consider ourselves “dead to sin.” Past tense. Done. Over.
Yet in Rom. 8.13 Paul doesn’t use the past tense, he uses a future condition: “if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
So dying to the flesh is an ongoing battle, one that can only be waged in the power of the Spirit.
Which leads me to a simple prayer that you might want to try sometime:
Triumph over me again Holy Spirit, conquer me and save me from myself.
How about it – are you on the list too?
Mike Raburn 
No, I’m not on the list. What kind of self-image do you have that you see yourself as an unstoppable destructive force? Do you really think that such a self-image is good for anyone, or productive in any way? Do you teach your children that THEY are unstoppable destructive forces? If you do, then it is questionable whether you love them. I am not a religious scholar, but to the best of my knowledge Christianity is the only major religion which teaches people that they are sinful by default. It is Christianity, in fact, which is the unstoppable destructive force. Some day, though, it will be stopped, and the world will be a much better place when that happens.
Caleb,
Thanks for reading and responding. My overall self-image is that I am a creature who was created good by a loving God (in God’s image in fact), but who (like all of my species) has a fallen nature, a fundamental flaw marring that goodness. Even the best people are capable of doing bad (when we seek the good improperly or fail to understand what is good, as Aristotle taught), normal (less-than-the-best) people are capable of causing quite a lot of hurt and damage through selfishness, negligence and the like, and as history shows us, some people can produce a great deal of evil. Great good is often in the heart of humans, and just as often a deep darkness. That’s what I meant by unstoppable destructive force – the human heart inflamed with passion (especially ill-directed) can be a force like no other.
With regard to other religions, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Confucianism, and Taoism share similar understandings of human nature, as did Aristotle. There are variations, of course, but all teach that goodness requires some degree of effort, training, self-control, divine assistance, etc.
Oh, and of course I love my children, enough to teach them to have a positive, yet sober view of themselves and others.
I know the Christian view on human nature gets confused with seemingly conflicting teaching, you may have had some of that in mind as you read my post. Thanks for giving me an idea for my next entry.
Mike
As for me, I am constantly on that list. And the moment I think I’m not is the moment I should be afraid. As soon as I think I’ve worked through all my issues, like needing the approval of others, jealousy, impatience and anger, and lack of sensitivity for others’ feelings, I’m surely blind as well. There’s always something in me that needs correcting, growing, and conquering. I would be either naive or stupid to think I am perfect and incapable of evil, since I’ve proven that’s not the case uncountable times in the past.
And I appreciate the time and care you put into this post, Mike. Well-written indeed.