As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
Whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life ... The particular construction of these words reveals that eternal life is promised not to "whosoever believeth," but to all believers who are "in him," that is, in Christ.  The misconception sometimes substituted for the promise here is that "all believers SHALL be saved, whether or not they are ever baptized into Christ."  The key word in this clause is "may." meaning the right or privilege of entering Christ and thus receiving eternal life in him.  To be sure, "may" and "shall" are poles apart in meaning.  To read that believers "shall be saved" is to read what is nowhere taught in the Bible; but to read that believers "may be saved" is to read the truth of God. The corruption of this text and that of  John 3:16 by rendering "shall" instead of "may" or "should" must be rejected.  Both here and in  John 3:16, the true rendition is "may" or "should" and not in a thousand years "SHALL have eternal life."  See Westcott[17] and all of the legitimate versions.  When translators take the liberty of rendering "shall have eternal life," as, for example, in the International Version and others, they are not translating God's word at all but perverting it.  Let the student of the word of God beware of the hand of Satan in such translations.