Paul knows nothing of a theology in which God does not ultimately achieve his purposes….
It is God’s covenant purpose that his world will one day be reconciled in Christ. For now, only the Church shares in that privilege, but this is not a position God has granted his people so they can gloat over the world. On the contrary, the Church must live by gospel standards and proclaim its gospel message so that the world will come to share in the saving work of Christ.
— Gregory MacDonald, The Evangelical Universalist, p. 47, 53