Can a person be saved by their own efforts if they are spiritually dead?

Ephesians 2:8-9 clearly articulates that salvation is not of ourselves or by any works we perform. Since spiritual death signifies total inability to respond to God, any thought that we can cooperate in our salvation is fundamentally flawed. Our efforts, if unilaterally motivated, cannot lead to life. Salvation must be initiated and carried out by God alone, who quickens the dead. This reinforces the reality that it is not about our plans or intentions, but about God’s sovereign purpose in choosing to save those who are dead in their sins, as seen in Romans 9:16, which states 'So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.'