Ephesians 2:1-5
1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
"The first word in verse 4 makes us breath out a little bit. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ” I love the way he words it because he says, “When did God show you mercy, and when did God lavish His love upon you? Not when you straightened yourself out, not when you started doing better, not when you stopped doing wrong but while you were dead in your trespasses. That’s when He showed you mercy. That’s when He loved you.” It’s the difference between morality driven religion and the gospel."
Matt Chandler, God Saves (read here, listen here)