What messages and ideas were conveyed in Leo Tolstoy's "The Penitent Sinner"?

I would argue that the central message of this fascinating
piece of short fiction is the supremacy and power of grace. Let us just remember that
before the story begins, Tolstoy adds the quote from the Bible refering to the sinner
who dies on the cross next to Jesus and repents, and how Jesus says to him that, even
though he is repenting just before death, he will be with Jesus that day with him in his
kingdom. As the story begins, we realises we are being given another example of the
supremacy of grace, as the description of the man who dies makes
clear:

There
was once a man who lived for seventy years in the world, and lived in sin all that time.
He fell ill but even then did not repent. Only at the last moment, as he was dying, he
wept and said:

'Lord! forgive me, as Thou forgavest the
thief upon the cross.'

And as he said these words, his soul
left his body. And the soul of the sinner, feeling love towards God and faith in His
mercy, went to the gates of heaven and knocked, praying to be let into the heavenly
kingdom.

The parallels
between the two men are obvious. Both live a life of sin and turn to God in the last few
moments of their life, trusting in God's overwhelming grace to be sufficient to more
than make up for all of their sins. As the sinner speaks with first Peter and then
David, he forces these figures to recognise the way that grace has played a vital role
in their own journey to heaven, and thus is able to finally gain admittance into heaven
thanks to the Apostle John and his creed of love. The theme of this short story is
definitely that grace conquers all, even the most darkest and blackest sin, as even
heroes of the faith, such as David and Peter, are shown to be just as dependent on grace
as sinners like you and me.