Saved by the Bell
There is a fascinating histroy to the phrase “Saved by the Bell”
Today, this expression is commonly used to refer to any event where someone is rescued, just in time, by circumstance.
Did you know its history traces bact to an event in 1696, involving a guard named John Hatfield stationed at Windsor Castle in England?
In that era, a guard’s duties were taken very seriously, which essentially meant remaining fully alert.
However, Hatfield was accused of sleeping on duty and neglecting his post. He was put on trial for this charge. Hatfield defended himself by claiming he hadn’t slept at all; instead, he said he heard the bells of St. Paul’s Cathedral—some 20 miles away in London—ring thirteen times. [Of course, that would be a rather uncommon claim, since bells don't ring beyond the 12th hour].
It was an extraordinary defense, and Hatfield was still found guilty. In those days, guards found guilty of dereliction of duty faced the death penalty by hanging.
Fortunately, a kind or curious soul—or perhaps both—pondered Hatfield’s remarkable defense long enough and decided to investigate. This person discovered that yes, the bells at St. Paul’s Cathedral had indeed rung thirteen times. Others in the community also heard and counted the thirteen bell strikes.
Hatfield’s sentence was ultimately postponed, and he lived to the age of 102. Truly, Hatfield had been “Saved by the Bell.”
This story echoes a deeper spiritual truth: we, too, stood guilty, unable to defend ourselves from the weight of our sin. But just in time, grace rang out—not from a bell tower, but from a cross on Calvary.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
— Romans 5:8 (NKJV)
Jesus intervened right on time. Not because we earned it, but because God, in His mercy, made a way when none seemed possible. Just as John Hatfield was saved by a bell that validated his innocence, we are saved by the cross that validates God's love.
And even when life accuses us or we feel condemned:
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
— Romans 8:1 (ESV)
So, the next time you hear the phrase "saved by the bell", remember: you’ve been saved by something far greater—by a Savior whose timing is perfect and whose grace is enough.
Truly, it is an uncommon defense, but our ONLY defense, offered by our Great Defender, indeed our Advocaate before the Father!
"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One" (1 John 2:1, NIV).
A Perfect 10
Romanian gymnastics sensation Nadia Comaneci took the gymnastics world by storm in the 1970s. Crowds were mesmerized by her grace, her athleticism, and her off the charts skill and technique. They (and the judges) came to anticipate only the best performances from her. But no one — not the crowd, not the judges, not the arena techies, not even Nadia — was prepared for what happened when then 14 year old Nadia Comaneci took to the uneven bars at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games.
Nadia approached the bars with her usual, fiery determination. She executed her mount, each element, each transition, each flip, even the dismount to perfection. No, really! Perfection! No one, NO ONE had ever done that before!
“[Even the] scoreboard didn’t know what to do: it wasn’t able to display the four digits needed to show a row of 10.00s, because nobody had even conceived that it was possible.”
Nadia stood confused as she saw the 1.00 scores from each of the seven judges flashing on the board. It took a moment to sink in that she’d achieved what no one thought possible — a perfect 10!
The announcer exclaimed, “A 10 has gone on the board, and that’s perfection, that is Olympic history!”
“Once it was proved achievable, though, she couldn’t stop doing it: Comaneci got six more perfect tens as she swept to three gold medals (all around, uneven bars and balance beam) and international superstardom.”
When it comes to life, not one of us will ever achieve a perfect score. Scripture is clear, “We all like sheep have gone astray” (Isaiah 53:6, NIV). “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23, NLT).
But there is One who has achieved it! “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21, NIV), exchanging His perfect life, His perfect obedience for our own imperfect, sinful selves.
It’s so unexpected! We stand amazed, like the Olympic commentators, because "nobody had even conceived that it was possible."
We stare at the scoreboard, shocked to see that perfect score attributed to our performance.
Our sinful souls now stand justified in His presence. As such, all that we now do “in Him” will resound in the heart of the Father as perfection. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20 ESV).
In Christ, we score a perfect 10!
“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me” (Philippians 3:12, NLT).
Protecting Your Identity
Occasionally I will check my credit report to make sure no one has stolen my identity. On one occasion, I could not remember my user name for the Experian website. So, I clicked on the "Forgot Username" button to have it sent to me by e-mail.
Then they wanted my birthdate and my Social Security number. Ten minutes later the e-mail arrived with my username. I went back to the Experian website and logged in without any difficulty.
But logging in was not enough. I remained locked out until I typed in the six-digit number they texted to my phone. Finally, I was in and the screen said, "Thank you for helping keep your identity secure!"
Experian goes to great lengths to protect my identity. To log in as me, a thief would have to know my email, my login, my birthdate, my SS number, my cell number, and have my cell phone in their possession. If someone had all that information they would be able to impersonate me, take out loans in my name, and cause me great harm.
Of even greater value, though, is my identity in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "If any man be in Christ he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold all things are become new." This new identity is also worth protecting.
According to Jesus, there is a thief who would like to steal this identity, and he does this by lying to us about who we are and what we have been given in Christ (John 10:10).
We must be vigilant to maintain a strong sense of our spiritual identity in Christ, at least as vigilantly as Experian fights to protect our personal identity in this world.
"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:4,5, NKJV)