Was there a 50 day “Grace Period” between Jesus’ death on the cross and the day of Pentecost, so if any righteous God fearing Jews or Gentiles such as Cornelius would have died before hearing the gospel, they would still be saved? Also, if that be the case and to be fair, would that “grace period” need to be extended longer until everyone on earth had a chance to hear the gospel as stated in Colossians 1:23. ~ Keven Endsley, Roanoke, TX
No, there was not a grace period between the cross and Pentecost. However, another circumstance prevailed between the cross and Pentecost that does not lend itself to application at any time beyond Pentecost of Acts 2. Whereas the Old Testament (namely, Judaism, Romans 7:6-7) was nailed to the cross of Christ (Colossians 2:14) 50 days before the Acts 2 Pentecost, the effect and benefit of the cross of Christ was unknown to the world until proclaimed by the apostle Peter in the first recorded Gospel sermon. Judaism effectively continued, then, until the birthday of the church in Acts 2. In a sense, this is comparable to USA politics of selecting the nation’s next president; the new president is elected in November, but he is not inaugurated as president until months later. Christianity was not inaugurated at the cross of Christ, but rather on the birthday of the church in Acts 2.
Cornelius was not approached with the Gospel of Christ until 10 years after the birthday of the church in Acts 2. From that time forth, the final class of people to receive the news of the Gospel of Christ (Gentiles, Acts 10) were forever amenable to Christianity versus, in the case of the Gentiles, Patriarchy. The Jews were no longer bound by Judaism after Acts 2; likewise, the Samaritans became amenable exclusively to Christianity after Acts 8. By the time the apostle Paul declared that the Gospel had been preached to the whole world (Colossians 1:23), all classes of humanity had been apprised of the Gospel (i.e., Jews, Samaritans and Gentiles). Since the first century, everyone has been amenable exclusively to the Gospel of Christ (Christianity).
