"Total Depravity" and "Inability"

A problem, however, may here present itself. Is not the total depravity of man recognized as an established precept of sound Biblical doctrine? And if so, how could man who is totally depraved-utterly sunk in sin and morally bankrupt fulfill any responsibility at all in the matter of his own salvation?

Man, to be sure, is totally depraved. Before God he is wholly corrupt, utterly vile and filthy, steeped in sin and undone.

But as has often been pointed out, total depravity in man does not mean his total inability.

Dr. James Orr, the noted Scotch Presbyterian, said on this: "The doctrine in question is, indeed, misunderstood when the adjective `total' is held to imply that every human being is as bad as he can be, or that there are not natural virtues, and even beautiful and lovable traits in characters that are yet unregenerate . . . `Total' here does not mean that every part of man is as corrupt as it can be, but that no part has escaped depravation or corruption (totus, in the sense of `in every part'). Sin is in the nature, and its perverting, depraving, defiling influence pervades it all."

(Side-Lights on Christian Doctrine, p. 97)