Stephen Jones — Soteriology
b4 — The Laws of the Second Coming
Day of Atonement: True Meaning as Liberation of Captives
In Chapter 3, Jones argues that the true meaning of the Day of Atonement is not fasting but liberation — a Jubilee of release:
“The true underlying purpose for the Day of Atonement is not to be so much a day of fasting from food, but a day of setting people free and feeding the hungry. In other words, it is the Jubilee, to set the captives free.” — Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, Ch.3
In the fiftieth year, the Jubilee trumpet was blown on the Day of Atonement, replacing mourning with rejoicing:
“Every 49 years the Day of Atonement was to be replaced by the blowing of the trumpet of the Jubilee. Instead of mourning and fasting, it was to be a day of rejoicing and jubilation.” — Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, Ch.3 (on Lev. 25:8-13)
Jones cites Lev. 25:10: “You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants.” The Jubilee law demands liberation — not an option but a divine command.
Interpretation: Jones reads the Day of Atonement primarily through a soteriological-juridical lens: not a ceremony of self-mortification, but the legal ratification of universal release. The day of atonement and the Jubilee are one: the penalty has been paid, the captives are freed.
Two Works of Christ: Covering and Removal of Sin
This is the central soteriological thesis of Chapter 10. Jones distinguishes two separate works of Christ through the two goats of Lev. 16:
“The first goat covered our sin; the second will remove it. We will show that the first goat (Christ) was killed in order to atone for (cover) our sin by His blood. The second goat was different in that it removed all sin to a land not inhabited. This shows us that the second coming of Christ will accomplish the removal of sin from our bodies.” — Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, Ch.10
On the current salvific status of Christians:
“As Christians today, we are yet sinners, saved by grace. Our sins have been covered by Jesus’ blood, whereby God imputes righteousness to us, calling what is not as though it were (Rom. 4:17). Though we are unrighteous in ourselves, God has made provision by His first work on the Cross to cover our unrighteousness by His blood, so that legally speaking God could call us righteous.” — Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, Ch.10
Interpretation: Salvation proceeds in two phases corresponding to the two comings of Christ. The first coming brought justification (forensic acquittal through blood atonement); the second coming brings sanctification to its completion — the actual removal of sin from the flesh. Christians today live in the interim period between these two works.
Christ as High Priest: Blood on the Heavenly Mercy Seat
Jones describes Christ’s heavenly high-priestly work after the resurrection as the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement:
“Jesus Christ — our High Priest — entered into the Holy of Holies in heaven to sprinkle His own blood upon the mercy seat. By faith (like with Abraham) we may appropriate this provision, whereby righteousness is imputed (‘reckoned’) to us.” — Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, Ch.10 (on Heb. 9:12; Rom. 4:22-24)
Jones sees Christ’s first high-priestly work as the fulfillment of the first goat, while the second goat — sent into the wilderness — still awaits the Second Coming.
The Interim: Pentecostal Age as Transition
Jones explicitly locates current church history within the salvation-historical transition:
“Jesus Christ did not immediately fulfill the work of the second dove or the second goat. Instead, He sat down at the right hand of the Father to make intercession for us for the Pentecostal Age. During the past 2,000 years, He has awaited the day when His enemies are put under His feet. Then and only then will He stand up and come as the dove from heaven.” — Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, Ch.10 (on Heb. 10:12-13)
Interpretation: The Pentecostal Age (church history) is not the final destination but a transition from Passover to Tabernacles. The Holy Spirit has descended as a firstfruits gift; the completion of salvation — removal of sin from the flesh — is eschatologically deferred until the Second Coming.
Feast of Tabernacles: Sanctification and Glorification as Final Destination
In Chapter 7, Jones connects the Feast of Tabernacles to the definitive glorification of the Overcomers:
“Overcomers will receive their tabernacle which is from heaven and not made with human hands (2 Cor. 5:1).” — Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, Ch.7
On the water-pouring ceremony as an image of the Spirit’s outpouring:
“Pouring out the water at the Feast of Tabernacles was meant to depict the Spirit of God being poured out, as prophesied by Joel 2:23 and 28.” — Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, Ch.7
Jones stresses that the feast days form a progressive pattern, not a static ritual. Justification (Passover) or Spirit-filling (Pentecost) can occur at any time personally, but the historical fulfillment of prophecy follows fixed appointed times.
Interpretation: Sanctification and glorification are the eschatological goal of the redemptive journey — the Feast of Tabernacles as the third and final phase. The Holy Spirit’s gift in the Pentecostal period is a foretaste of the fullness to be poured out in the Tabernacles phase.
Two Resurrections: Overcomers and Ordinary Christians
In Chapter 13, Jones develops his distinction between two resurrections soteriologically:
“The distinction between these two resurrections in Revelation 20 points to the idea that not all Christians will come into perfection at the same time. It strongly suggests that the Church will need to continue learning and progressing in the path of righteousness that moves from Passover to Pentecost to Tabernacles.” — Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, Ch.13 (on Rev. 20)
On Christians who are only partially developed in their walk:
“Christians who have developed only partially in their walk with God will not be able to see the glory of God in the Holy of Holies until they have learned the lessons that each feast was designed to teach them. They will not be allowed to act in a lazy fashion, saying, ‘It does not matter what I do, since we will all be glorified at the same time when Jesus comes.‘” — Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, Ch.13
Jones describes the Overcomers as a “cloud of witnesses” manifesting Christ’s character:
“In a very real sense, these overcomers have a calling to be Christ’s great ‘cloud of witnesses.‘” — Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, Ch.13 (on Rev. 1:7; John 14:12)
Interpretation: The two resurrections are not a mechanism for saving some and damning others, but for determining the order of glorification. Overcomers — those who have fully grown in sanctification — receive the First Resurrection; others follow later. This coheres with Jones’ universalist soteriology: ultimate salvation for all, but eschatological differentiation in timing and inheritance.
[TENSION with classical eschatology: Jones’ two resurrections are primarily a sanctification-distinction within the church, not a judgment/salvation-distinction between believers and unbelievers]
The Manchild: Corporate Glorification as Restoration of Adam’s Glory
In Chapter 14, Jones connects the Manchild of Revelation 12 to the eschatological completion of redemption:
“Before his fall into sin, he [Adam] would have brought forth children in the image of God, after whose image he himself had been created. Instead, however, all of his children were born after he had lost the glorified body. Thus, all of his descendants have been born mortal, carnal, and imperfect, lacking the original glory of God that once permeated Adam’s being.” — Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, Ch.14
The feast days as the restoration path:
“The feast days of Israel were designed to reveal to us the pattern of restoration to the glory, which Adam enjoyed before sin entered the world. The feast days are not an end in themselves, but a means to an end. The feast days are a progressive pattern, a journey from the depths of bondage and sin to the heights of the glorious liberty of the children of God and the glorified body.” — Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, Ch.14
Jones defines the redemptive journey as an earthly transformation:
“It is not a journey from earth to heaven, but a journey on the earth from death to life, from corruption to incorruption, from the image of the first Adam to the image of the Second Adam.” — Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, Ch.14
The Manchild as corporate body:
“This Manchild represents the mature body of Christ — those who have come into the full stature and glory of Jesus Christ through the process of sanctification and the feasts. These are the overcomers who have fully developed in their walk with God and are ready to be glorified.” — Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, Ch.14
Interpretation: Salvation for Jones is not merely forensic (justification) but ontological-eschatological: the restoration of God’s glory in the mortal body. The Manchild is the corporate result of this complete sanctification process — the firstfruits who prepare the way for the universal apokatastasis.
[TENSION with traditional Protestant soteriology: Jones’ goal of salvation is not only heavenly bliss but earthly transformation of the body to the original image of God]