Total Depravity

Total Depravity - Man - in his unredeemed state - is totally incapable of pleasing God because of his sinful nature. He neither seeks God, nor knows Him, but is spiritually dead, - unable to please God, and utterly sinful in every way. This is not to say that he is as bad or evil as he could be, but that there is no true goodness in him.

Born dead in to sin -

Romans 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

Mathew 8:22 But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Ephesians 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins

Romans 3:11 11 There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.


Accountability - What we have here is a paradox of sorts. God is sovereign, but yet He made man accountable for his sinful life.

Romans 14:12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Mans moral inability does not annul his responsibility. Quite the contrary - it compounds it. Keep in mind it was man who brought this sinful nature upon himself.