Stephen Jones — Hamartology

b3 — Secrets of Time

Definition of Sin

Jones cites 1 John 3:4 approvingly as his definitive description of sin: “I told John that sin is still the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4). Never did I make sin lawful.” — Jones, Secrets of Time, ch. 1; references: 1 John 3:4; Rom. 6:1; Rom. 8:2; Rom. 7:12-25. — Interpretation: Jones employs a strictly legal definition of sin: any act contrary to God’s law is sin, even under the New Covenant.

“Adam sinned, and thus incurred a debt to the law, because all sin is reckoned as a debt. Because there was no way that Adam could pay the debt he owed, he was ‘sold’ into bondage as a slave to the earth (Ex. 22:3).” — Jones, Secrets of Time, ch. 4; references: Gen. 3:17-19; Ex. 22:3. — Interpretation: Jones frames the Fall primarily in legal terms: transgression creates debt; inability to pay results in slavery — dominion over the earth was lost.
“The earth finally did produce the Perfect Man to pay the debt of Adam’s sin.” — Jones, Secrets of Time, ch. 4; reference: Gen. 6:9 (Noah as partial fulfilment; Christ as ultimate fulfilment). — Interpretation: The coming of Christ as the Second Adam stands in direct soteriological relation to the debt incurred at the Fall.

“The people were on Judged Time, because they had refused to enter Canaan on the 50th Jubilee from Adam. Had they been obedient, they would have received the glorified bodies which were lost through Adam’s sin.” — Jones, Secrets of Time, ch. 7. — Interpretation: Jones regards the loss of the glorified body as a direct consequence of Adam’s sin that continues throughout Israel’s history; obedience would have hastened its restoration.

Jones introduces ‘cursed time’ as a 414-year judgment cycle imposed by God as a result of unpaid sin: “The Flood came 4 x 414 years after Adam to judge the earth for nonpayment of debt… God is a God of mercy and grace. He never carries out a sentence of death immediately.” — Jones, Secrets of Time, ch. 4; references: Gen. 3:17-19; Gen. 6:9. — Interpretation: The number 414 functions as a legal period of grace during which repentance remains possible; only after this does judgment fall. This directly links sin to historical time-cycles.
“God gave Amalek precisely 414 years of grace” before executing judgment on their transgression. — Jones, Secrets of Time, ch. 6; references: Ex. 17:11-16; 1Sam. 15. — Interpretation: The 414-year principle applies to nations as well: the sin of a nation triggers a specific period of grace, after which God’s judgment becomes legally enforceable.

On Israel’s national sin accumulating as debt: “Each rest year that passed simply added another year of ‘debt’ to the nation’s account” — resulting in 70 years of accumulated debt foreclosed through a plague that killed 70,000 men (2Sam. 24:15). — Jones, Secrets of Time, ch. 7; reference: 2Sam. 24:15. — Interpretation: Collective sin works cumulatively; God ‘books’ national disobedience as a legal debt that is ultimately collected in full.
On Egypt as a type for the world system: “Egypt can only bring men into bondage—never into ‘the glorious liberty of the children of God.‘” (Rom. 8:21) — Jones, Secrets of Time, ch. 5; reference: Rom. 8:21. — Interpretation: Jones connects the slavery of Egypt typologically to the condition of fallen humanity; Adam’s loss of dominion subjected humanity to the ‘world system’.
On Babylon taking on Israel’s debt: “When God sold Israel into the hands of the king of Mesopotamia (Babylon), that nation took upon itself the liability for Israel’s debt.” — Jones, Secrets of Time, ch. 10. — Interpretation: Debt arising from sin is legally transferable; nations that exercise dominion over other nations thereby incur a liability that, if unmet, calls down their own judgment.

On Saul’s failure to execute judgment on Agag: “Samuel told Saul that he would die the next day because he had refused to execute Agag, the Amalekite.” (1Sam. 28:18) — Jones, Secrets of Time, ch. 6; reference: 1Sam. 28:18. — Interpretation: Disobedience to God’s command carries direct and personal penal consequences; even partial obedience counts as transgression.