But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5)

On the critically important and so neglected Biblical doctrine of the total depravity of man Phil Johnson writes at Pyromaniacs:

Scripture is very clear and consistent in its teaching that we were all born into a state of sinfulness, guilt, and spiritual death. When we truly grasp our fallenness, we can instantly see that our own sin is a moral and spiritual dilemma from which we are utterly unable to extricate ourselves.

Every unregenerate person is spiritually dead, walking in accord with Satan, by nature a child of wrath… Every aspect of our being—mind, emotions, desires, and even our physical constitution—is corrupted, controlled, and disfigured by sin and its effects. No one escapes from that verdict. We are totally depraved.

Incidentally, the doctrine of “total depravity” was not invented by Calvin. It is a biblical doctrine. It was also standard orthodox Christian theology, expressly affirmed by all of mainstream Christianity for more than a thousand years before the Reformation—from the Pelagian controversy on.

You can read Johnson’s whole post here.