What hope do we have then?

God himself provides the solution. He knows that we can't help ourselves. We're so infected by sin that everything we do is stained by its dirty fingerprints. His plan of salvation is two-fold:

God sent his son to live the life we couldn't live - a perfect life.
And God sent his son to take the punishment that rightfully belonged to us.

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." - Romans 6:23