Dallas Theological Seminary). Hogan has since rejected no-lordship doctrine, but this statement was
He Calls for a New Birth
the gospel. "In 'looking,' " one author writes, "there is no idea of committal of life, no thought of healing being deserved, no question concerning the subsequent life of the looker, no possibility of surrender to the object of vision."3 Zane Hodges adds, "Could anything be more profoundly simple than that! Eternal life for one look of faith! Clearly here too we meet the unconditional gift which may be acquired by any who desires it. . . . The issue is simply faith in the divine offer."4
Is that the case? Certainly not. The issue is not faith in the offer, but faith in the One who was lifted up. A more careful study of Numbers 21 reveals that Jesus was not painting a picture of easy faith. He was showing Nicodemus the necessity of repentance. In fact, Jesus used this particular illustration precisely because it challenged Nicodemus's Pharisaism. Nicodemus knew the story of the bronze serpent well. As a leader of the Jewish nation, no doubt he identified with Moses. Jesus was showing him instead that he must identify with the sinning, rebellious Israelites.
Nicodemus knew well the helpless state of the Israelites for whom the bronze serpent was erected. They were sinful, defiant rebels against God. They had been judged, and they were dying. They came to Moses in absolute shame and utter repentance, saying, "We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you" (Num. 21:7). Undoubtedly many were already sick and dying, fast losing their strength. They were in no position to glance flippantly at the pole and then proceed with lives of rebellion. It is noteworthy that Moses records no further occurrence of the kind of rebellion that had brought about their judgment. They turned to God in desperation and with genuine repentance. Jesus was demanding that Nicodemus do the same.
The issue was sin. Jesus was challenging this great teacher of the law to acknowledge that he had been bitten by the great serpent, Satan, and to come to the Lord for salvation. The very concept would have been repugnant to a Pharisee. It cut at the core of his self-righ teous ness. Far from giving Nicodemus an illustration of the ease of belief, our Lord established a painful condition for Nicodemus's salvation: he must acknowledge his sinfulness and repent. He must be willing to include himself among the sinful, snake-bitten, repentant Israelites.
The illustration of the bronze serpent also pictured Jesus' death as the price for salvation. Just as Moses lifted up that serpent, so the Son of Man would be lifted up on a pole — the cross of crucifixion. The word "must" in verse 14 is
3. William LeGrange Hogan, "Th e Relationship of the Lordship of Christ to Salvation" (Th .M. thesis, Dallas Th eological Seminary). Hogan has since rejected no-lordship doctrine, but this statement was cited with approval by Cocoris, Lordship Salvation — Is It Biblical? 13.
4. Zane C. Hodges, Th e Gospel Under Siege (Dallas: Redención Viva, 1981), 17 – 18.