Richard B. Hays, a New Testament scholar, was a heavyweight who began his career with what seemed like a solid foundation in conservative biblical theology. His earlier works ostensibly reflected, at least on the surface, a commitment to biblical accuracy. But somewhere along the way, Hays exchanged the truth of God for a lie—a lie dressed in the alluring garb of cultural acceptance.

Hays completely abandoned the biblical sexual ethics that he once held to, and began to seek the applause of men while chasing cultural trends in sexuality. He lent his name and influence to affirm homosexuality and other deviant sexual behaviors, not as sins to be repented of, but as identities to be celebrated.

And now, just months after the release of his latest work, The Widening of God’s Mercy: Sexuality Within the Biblical Story, Richard B. Hays has stepped into eternity to face the God whose Word he spent his final years undermining. Hays died on January 3, 2025, at the age of 76.

His book, a glossy attempt to reframe Scripture as inclusive of what God has explicitly condemned, was heralded by the progressive evangelical crowd as bold and groundbreaking. But in reality, it was a tired regurgitation of the same old rebellion packaged in a new wrapper.

It sought to “widen” the path that Jesus Himself said was narrow, wresting the truth of God’s holiness into a mockery of grace. In life, Hays argued for a God made in man’s image—one who winks at sin and embraces sexual anarchy. In death, he met the true and living God, the one revealed in Scripture as a consuming fire.

Just imagine a man who spent the remaining years of his life arguing against God’s clear commands suddenly standing before Him. The God who thundered from Mount Sinai, whose holiness caused Isaiah to cry, “Woe is me!”—this is the God Hays faced.

And what did he bring to that encounter?

A bibliography filled with arguments that God’s Word doesn’t mean what it says, that God’s commandments—His nature and His character—were too exclusive for modern tastes.

What defense could he possibly offer before the One who needs none?

The ink on his latest book may still be drying, but the judgments rendered within its pages pale in comparison to the eternal judgment that now defines his eternity.

Hays’ ministry was not one of building bridges to heaven, but one of paving highways to hell. He loved the ethics of the world more than the holiness of God. He rejected the character of the Creator in favor of the subjective morality of the creature.

His life’s work was rebellion, a loud and public declaration that he hated the God who revealed Himself in His Word. He twisted the Scriptures to affirm what God abhors and spent his final years championing a cause that denies the power of the gospel to save.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. The great theologian Jonathan Edwards captured this truth with chilling clarity in his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Edwards painted a picture of humanity suspended over the fires of hell, held only by the sovereign grace of God.

“The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you,” Edwards preached. “He is dreadfully provoked; his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire.”

God’s mercy is certainly wide, but that wideness is reserved only for those who would come to Him in faith and repentance, not those who would continue to hate Him.

Hays’ life should be a warning to all who would twist God’s Word to satisfy their own lusts of the flesh. The path of rebellion may seem wide and welcoming, but it leads only to destruction. If you don’t think that’s true, just ask those who begged Noah to let them on the ark after it started raining.

And for those who, like Hays, refuse to repent, the end is certain and terrifying. At some point, God seals the door shut and there is no more mercy, only judgment. The God who is patient, not wishing that any should perish, is also the God who will not leave the guilty unpunished.

For those who read Hays’ works and find comfort in his “widening” of God’s mercy, know this: God’s mercy is not cheap. It was purchased at the cost of His Son’s blood, and it is extended only to those who repent and believe.

There is no mercy for those who trample the cross underfoot, who treat God’s holiness as an obstacle to their own happiness.

Richard Hays has discovered this truth too late. Will you?