The Power of One

Isn’t it amazing how one person’s decision can change everything for everyone else? We see this all the time. One inventor creates a smartphone, and suddenly the way the entire world communicates is different. One athlete breaks a record, and suddenly every other athlete believes they can do it too. One person makes a reckless choice behind the wheel, and multiple families are changed forever.

We call this "The Power of One." Most of our lives are defined by the decisions of people we’ve never met. And usually, we spend our lives trying to manage the fallout of the bad decisions made before us. We’re born into systems, families, and cultures we didn’t choose, carrying baggage we didn’t pack.

This morning we’re looking into the story of two men, two acts, and two very different results. It explains why the world is the way it is and how God fixed it.

No matter what’s in your past, Jesus provides a new future.

We’ve got a lot to cover this morning, and the verses we’re looking at can sound kind of confusing. So let’s take it one chunk at a time.

Let’s start with verses 12-17. Romans 5:12-17

Romans 5:12–17 NKJV

12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

Is your head spinning yet? A lot of back and forth, comparison, and, on the face of it, rather confusing.

But don’t worry. I’ll break it down for us.

Why is the world the way it is? To explain that, Paul goes back to two men. Adam and Jesus.

Paul begins by taking us back to the beginning.

Paul says sin didn’t start everywhere. It started somewhere. One man. One decision. One act of disobedience. Adam didn’t just sin as an individual; he sinned as a representative of the entire human race. When Adam fell, everything connected to him fell with him.

To understand this section of Romans, we need to understand a few things.

First, I want you to notice the repetition of the little word one. It is used eleven times. The key idea here is our identification with Adam and with Christ.

Second, note the repetition of the word reign which is used five times. Paul saw two men—Adam and Christ—each of them reigning over a kingdom.

Finally, note that the phrase much more is repeated five times. This means that in Jesus Christ we have gained much more than we ever lost in Adam!

In short, this section is a contrast of Adam and Christ.

Adam was given dominion over the old creation, but he sinned and lost his kingdom. Because of Adam’s sin, all mankind is under condemnation and death.

Christ came as the King over a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). By His obedience on the cross, He brought in righteousness and justification. Christ not only undid all the damage that Adam’s sin effected, but He accomplished “much more” by making us the very children of God.

Some of this “much more” Paul has already explained in Romans 5:1–11.

So what do we see here?

He says sin entered the world through "one man"—Adam. And when sin entered, death followed. The word Paul used for "entered" suggests sin walked into the world like an uninvited guest who refused to leave.

Now, here is the part that’s hard for many to grasp: Paul says death "spread" to everyone. Death moved through the human race like a virus. Even before God gave Moses the Law, people were dying. Why? Because we didn't just inherit Adam's hair color or eye color; we inherited his "sin nature." We were born into spiritual bankruptcy.

As the representative of all humans, Adam’s act of sin was considered by God to be the act of all people and his penalty of death was judicially made the penalty of everybody.

Some have said, “Well that’s not fair. God didn’t give us a chance to decide for ourselves.”

To begin with, if God had tested each human being individually, the result would have been the same: disobedience.

But even more important, by condemning the human race through one man (Adam), God was then able to save the human race through one Man (Jesus Christ)!

So Paul doesn't leave us in the cemetery. In verse 15, he says, "But the free gift is not like the offense."

The "offense" —it's a slip, a fall, or a trespass. Adam tripped, and we all fell with him. But the "free gift" is charisma (χάρισμα)—a gift of grace that we didn't earn.

Where Adam brought condemnation, Christ brings justification.

Where Adam introduced death, Christ introduces life.

And notice this: Paul says death reigned through Adam, but believers don’t just survive through Christ—they reign in life. Grace doesn’t merely rescue us; it restores our position.

In Adam we lost our kingship, our dominion over the earth, but in Jesus Christ we reign as kings. And we reign, as the Bible says, “much more”! Our spiritual reign is far greater than Adam’s earthly reign, because we share “abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness,” verse 17.

Adam made a decision that changed everything. But one obedience rewrote the story.

What Paul does next is distill the argument down to its simplest form. One trespass led to condemnation for all. One righteous act led to justification that brings life.

Look at Romans 5:18-19

Romans 5:18–19 NKJV

18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

Adam didn’t have to commit a series of sins. In one act God tested Adam, and he failed.

Paul calls it an “offense” and an act of “disobedience.” The word offense means “trespass—crossing over the line.” God told Adam how far he could go, and Adam decided to go beyond the appointed limit. “Of every tree of the Garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:16–17).

In contrast to “the trespass of one” is “the righteousness of one,” meaning the righteous work of Christ on the cross. In verse 19, Paul calls it “the obedience of One” (see Phil. 2:5–12).

It seems Paul used a play on words in comparing Adam’s sin, and Jesus’ sacrifice.

Adam’s "disobedience" (parakoēs—literally "a failure to hear" or "hearing amiss") resulted in us being "made sinners." But Jesus’ "obedience" (hypakoēs—literally "to hear under" or "to listen with submission") results in us being "made righteous."

Adam disobeyed—and many were made sinners. Christ obeyed—and many are made righteous.

And here’s the good news: Christ’s obedience didn’t just cancel guilt—it created a new status. You are not merely forgiven; you are declared righteous. That changes how you see God, how you see yourself, and how you live.

In our culture, we love the idea of "self-made" people. We want to believe we are the masters of our own destiny.

But Paul is showing us that it’s not really about your act; it’s about His act. You can spend your whole life trying to be "good enough" to change your eternal destination, but you can't. Only a new "Power of One" can change your status.

Now Paul anticipates the obvious question: What about the law? His answer is surprising. The law didn’t fix sin—it exposed it. It didn’t restrain rebellion—it revealed how deep it ran. The law made sin visible and undeniable.

Romans 5:20–21 NKJV

20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Why would God want sin to "abound"?

The point of the Law wasn't to fix the problem; it was to show us how big the problem really was. The Law is like a flashlight in a dark, messy room. It doesn't create the mess, but it makes the mess "abound" in your vision. You see it for what it really is.

But then Paul says the most famous words in this chapter: "But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more." The word for grace abounding "much more" is a mathematical term that means "to super-abound." It’s the idea of a flood of grace that completely swallows up a puddle of sin.

The final result? Grace now "reigns." The word means to rule as a king. Sin used to be the king of your life, and its final word was "Death." But now, for the believer, Grace is the new King, and its final word is "Eternal Life."

In our world today, we often feel like our sins are the biggest things about us. We feel defined by our failures. But Paul says God’s grace is bigger than your biggest mess. If your sin is a "10," God's grace is "10 million."

Sin once ruled through death. Now grace rules through Jesus Christ. The throne has changed hands.

Every person lives under one of two reigns. Adam’s reign leads to death. Christ’s reign leads to life. You don’t escape Adam by trying harder—you move out of Adam by moving into Christ.

The question Romans 5 forces us to answer isn’t Have you tried to be better?

It’s Who are you standing in?

Because what one man broke, one Man restored—and then some.

Everything in your life changes when you realize that your identity isn't rooted in what you do, but in which "One" you belong to.

The Power of One changed the world at the cross. And that same Power of One can change your life today.