True religion is a seal, reminding men that they have been established by God and that they will be established by Him; it reminds them also of their dissolution and their redemption, and of the daily renewed faithfulness of God. As a seal, it points onwards to the covenant between God and man, which still remains unfulfilled, and which still awaits its inauguration. The signing of a contract must not be confused with the decision which preceded it or the execution which will follow it. Similarly the decision of God eternally precedes the sign, and the purpose of God eternally stretches beyond it.

— The Epistle to the Romans by Karl Barth (Page 130)