How do we know that human beings are nothing without God?

Scripture makes it emphatically clear that mankind, in its sinful state, amounts to nothing before a holy God. Isaiah 40:17 states, 'All nations before Him are as nothing, and they are counted to Him less than nothing and vanity.' This stark declaration serves to illustrate the profound gap between God's infinite holiness and humanity's fallen condition. It reminds us that we cannot attain to God's righteousness on our own; instead, we are utterly dependent on His grace and mercy. The acknowledgment of our nothingness before God lays the foundation for true humility and the recognition that salvation is solely a work of divine initiative and grace, rather than human effort.