So I think we are not quite on the same page. I hear what you are saying re the work you have put in to research, examine, analyse and mull over a chain of previous thinkers and writers as well as the scriptures. I would put this work into the “bucket” of assurance. These are the things that you have done to attempt to make sense of what you have thought and experienced through your journey. What I am pointing to is that a Christian lacks an independent process to verify the future event of salvation while they are still living on earth. It’s a trust/faith situation until physical death. I am suggesting that assurances are not the same as verification. That is where the “trust me bro” sentiment came from. Maybe I am missing something?