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The thief on the Cross was under the Old Testament Law and not under grace in the New Testament as Christ had not yet died or ascended on Sunday to sprinkle his blood on the Altar in heaven as a blood offering for sin.
When the Lord told the Thief he would be with him today in Paradise he was speaking of the grave/Sheol/hell, more specifically the abode of the Pious souls in Hades/hell. Because he did not first ascend to heaven but first descended into the lower parts of the earth(Ephesians 4:9) to preach to the spirits in prison as Peter tells us(1 Peter 3:18-19). It was not until Sunday that he ascended into heaven as he told Mary not to touch him because he had not yet ascended(John 20:17).
The thief's faith in the Lord saved him(Hebrews 11:6,13,39) as it did so many others who were under the Mosaic law(Hebrews 11), these had faith but had not yet received the promise of faith in Christ being kept under the law(Galatians 3:23; Romans 4:5-9). Until Christ's death,Resurrection, and ascension with the offering of his blood for man's sins no man had received the promise of faith, none were yet under grace.
The thief on the Cross is just one more example of faith in God saving a man under the mosaic law.
There has only ever been one Gospel. Nobody was saved "under the law", but by Grace, through the substitution of Christ on their behalf. By grace, through faith, has always been the way. The law is not done away with now, and the law has always been powerless to save. The fact of it has been made plain, but was there from the beginning. Redemption has always been the plan, even for Adam.
"Today" is not a reference to what day of week. After this life, there is no counting of days.
When God created, we are what he created --the Bride of Christ.
Your organization of events and periods confuses you. I am not saying there is nothing to them, but they do not define the Gospel, nor what God has done for us.
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