The Lord who knows the hearts of men knows who
have the most spiritual gifts, and to them He sends His grace in greater
measure than to others. In ancient times, the Jewish people were distinguished
for their exclusive spiritual gifts, and in the time of the New Testament these
were the Greek and Russian peoples. God evinced extreme care of these peoples
and poured out His gifts of grace onto them. This is witnessed by the great
number of God's servants who shined amongst them. However, this abundance of
the gifts of grace imposes a particular responsibility before God onto each
nation and every single person. The Lord expects an effort of will from each of
these people and also the tendency to go towards moral perfection, for "unto
whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required." Of course,
it is far from true that everyone in these nations tends toward moral
perfection; some people consciously turn away from God. Often the result is
that an abundance of grace creates a certain polarization among the
representatives of a select people: some of them attain to great spiritual
heights, even sainthood, while others, contrarily, turn away from God and
become hard-hearted, even becoming theomachists. In the parable of <see next chapter>
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