Stephen E. Jones — Hamartiology
b8 — Free Will Versus Ownership
Sin as Debt to God
Jones defines sin primarily in legal terms: sin is reckoned as a debt. Jesus taught the disciples to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). Luke’s version says, “Forgive us our SINS; for we also forgive every one that is INDEBTED to us.”
Jones cites Matthew 18:23-25 where a man owes ten thousand talents, a huge debt he cannot pay. So the man, his wife, his children, and all that he had were sold for payment.
“Adam was given a wife, children, and dominion over all the earth. This represented ‘all that he had’ – the whole earth. When he sinned, all that he had was sold to sin, and sin held the debt note until Christ paid that debt.” “Because Christ paid our debt note, we have now become His servants (Rom. 6:18).”
(Jones, Free Will Versus Ownership, ch. 1)
Adam’s Sin as Uncovered Pit — God’s Liability
Jones applies Exodus 21:33-34 to the Garden of Eden. God dug the “pit” by planting the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God did not cover the pit (no fence). Adam fell into the pit by his own “free will” or stupidity.
Yet Jones argues: who is liable under God’s law? The owner of the pit.
“Back in the Garden of Eden, God in effect dug a ‘pit’ by planting the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The devil did not plant this tree. God did it, and God owned the tree. […] Further, God did not cover up this pit. That is, God did not put a fence around the tree to make it impossible for man to eat of it.” “Because Adam had been given authority (‘dominion’) in the earth in Gen. 1:26, he was most certainly liable to the extent of his authority. However, this does not absolve God of His liability as well—by His own law, which is a reflection of His righteous character.” “By God’s own liability laws, then, He is responsible.”
(Jones, Free Will Versus Ownership, ch. 2)
Jones extends this with Deuteronomy 22:8 — whoever builds a new house and fails to make a parapet for the roof is liable if anyone falls. God’s “house” is heaven and earth. When Adam fell off the “roof,” God is liable.
Christ’s Sin-Offering Covers the Whole World
Christ paid the debt of the whole world. He is the near kinsman with the right of redemption.
“He bought the dead ox. The ox is now His. […] He bought all who fell, and they are now His.” “He paid for the sin of the whole world because all of creation became subject to death through Adam’s fall.”
(Jones, Free Will Versus Ownership, ch. 2)
Romans 5:18-19 is cited:
“So then as through one transgression [Adam’s sin] there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of [Christ’s] righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.”
1 John 2:2: “He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
1 Corinthians 15:22: “For as in Adam ALL die, so also in Christ ALL shall be made alive.”
Death as Wages of Sin and Resurrection as Correction
Jones views death not as endpoint but as corrective discipline. The “fiery law” (Deut. 33:2) and the “lake of fire” serve to “learn righteousness” (Isa. 26:9).
“The purpose of divine judgment in the ‘lake of fire’ is to correct them, not to destroy them. It is to teach them the character of God, who is like ‘a consuming fire’ (Deut. 4:24; Heb. 12:29). It consumes ‘the flesh.‘”
(Jones, Free Will Versus Ownership, ch. 2)
Luke 12:47-48 is cited: slave who knew master’s will but did not do it = many lashes; who did not know = few. Liability measured by knowledge and authority.
Free Will Versus Sin
Men have a will, but it is not “free” in the accepted sense. Free will is subordinate to God’s will.
“Man’s will has God-given authority, but not sovereignty. The sovereign will of God is more powerful than man’s will.” “Man’s will is easily manipulated by thousands of factors outside of his control, beginning with the simple fact that he had no choice in being born or into what family, race, nation, or religious view.”
(Jones, Free Will Versus Ownership, ch. 1)
Romans 7:18: “In my flesh dwells no good thing.” James 1:17: “Every good and perfect gift is from above.”
John 6:44: “No man can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him.” The Greek helkuo means “to drag” — as fishermen drag fish into the boat or the rich drag the poor into court.
The Jubilee Ends All Debt
The Jubilee limits all liability for debt. There is no debt amount where the law of Jubilee no longer applies.
“The Jubilee can handle all of it. There is no amount of debt where the law of Jubilee no longer applies to you. The Jubilee will cancel a six-dollar debt and a trillion-dollar debt equally well with one stroke of the pen.”
(Jones, Free Will Versus Ownership, ch. 1)
Leviticus 25:54: even if redemption does not take place in the time of redemption, all will be set free in the year of Jubilee.