Radical Corruption: Why We Can’t Save Ourselves (And Why That’s Good News)

We’re not just broken. We're blind, bound, and bankrupt. But the good news? Jesus supplies everything He demands.

I Don’t Just Mess Up, Something’s Wrong With Me

Let’s be honest. Most of us don’t need a theology degree to know something is off with the world, or with ourselves.

We try to be good people. We try to do better. But then we lose our temper in traffic, scroll past people in need, or say things we swore we wouldn’t. And it’s not just the big moments, it’s the daily grind of selfishness, pride, envy, and apathy that seems to leak out without permission.

We’re not just broken. We’re blind.

And that’s what Scripture calls total depravity, or as I prefer to say, radical corruption.

What Is Total Depravity?

Total depravity doesn’t mean we’re as bad as we could be. It means that sin has touched every part of us: our minds, our hearts, our will, our desires. We’re not neutral. We’re not spiritually “sick.” We’re dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1).

Romans 3:10-12 says it plainly: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."

That’s not a flattering mirror, is it? But it’s true. It’s not just that we don’t do good, it’s that left to ourselves, we don’t even want to do good. It's not in our nature. Ephesians says that we are "by nature, children of wrath."

Why This Is So Hard to Accept

Plain and simple: This doctrine offends our pride.

We want to believe we’re in control of our destiny, that we need to make better choices, need better circumstances, or need better habits. But the gospel says we don’t need a better version of ourselves; we need a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26).

That’s not something we can manufacture.

We Need More Than Information, We Need Resurrection

I used to think that if people just heard the truth, they’d respond. But total depravity means our ears are closed, our eyes are blind, and our hearts are stone. That’s why Jesus told Nicodemus that we must be born again (John 3:3). Not improved, reborn.

1 Corinthians 2:14 puts it like this: "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."

That’s why, apart from the Holy Spirit, we will never choose God. We will never surrender. We will never see Jesus as beautiful. He must open our eyes (2 Corinthians 4:6), renew our will (Philippians 2:13), and draw us to Himself (John 6:44).

This Isn’t Hopeless, It’s Our Only Hope

Strangely enough, once I came to grips with how lost I was, I finally understood grace. God didn’t save me because I was savable. He saved me because He is merciful.

My hope is not in my free will, it’s in God’s free grace.

If you’re a Christian, it’s not because you were smarter, softer, or more spiritual than someone else. It’s because God interrupted your rebellion, opened your blind eyes, and gave you a new heart.

And if you’re not a Christian, the same hope is available to you, not by trying harder or cleaning yourself up, but by crying out for mercy. Because even that cry? He gives it.

A Practical Word to the Tired and Trying

If you're exhausted from trying to “be a better Christian,” maybe it’s because you’re still depending on yourself.

The doctrine of radical corruption reminds us that we never outgrow our need for the Holy Spirit. Every act of love, every moment of faith, every step of obedience, it’s all grace.

So stop striving to impress God and start resting in His power. Total depravity may sound harsh, but it’s actually a relief. Because if salvation depends on God alone, that means we can stop pretending, performing, and trying to earn what Jesus already purchased.

Dependence Is the Way Forward

The truth is simple, though not easy: we are radically corrupt and spiritually dead without Christ. But the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead can raise us too (Romans 8:11).

And let’s be clear, this isn’t just about our worst moments. Isaiah 64:6 reminds us that even our best efforts, our charity, our “quiet time,” our church attendance, our moral behavior, are like filthy rags apart from Christ. Not just insufficient. Not just flawed. Offensive when presented as currency to earn favor with a holy God.

That sounds crushing… until you realize what makes the gospel such stunningly good news.

Everything God requires, He supplies.

He doesn’t demand what He won’t give. He doesn’t expect us to climb up to Him, He came down to us in Jesus. And the same God who commands us to repent and believe is the One who grants repentance and gives faith (2 Timothy 2:25; Ephesians 2:8).

So, yes, we are totally depraved. But we are not totally hopeless.

Because Jesus didn’t come for the strong, the moral, or the self-improved. He came for the wretched, dead, dirty, and desperate.

And that means there’s room for people like me.

And you.

~Soli Deo Gloria