Do you believe you were saved by Christ on the cross at Calvary,or do you believe that at some point between your birth and now you became saved?
Why would I ask you this if I did not believe you were saved,do I set a trap for mine own self?
If The first thought of God in creation is to form the savior(Jesus) and then those who would come afterward to be saved(Adam/us) then it is no "afterthought of God".
That is God did not create man and then when he fell go "oops now what?" and then think to form an savior to send him to redeem the man. God "first" formed the "savior",his thought in the beginning was to guarantee our salvation.
Would I say this to you if I thought you were not saved by the same God that saved me? But how do I know if I do not believe that he saved me? I do not ask you "are you saved yet?",,,I ask you if "you believed you were saved and when".
If we ask God in our prayers to give us faith,does it not reveal that we admit we do not have it? Contemplate it if God answered the prayer and gave us faith what is it to God? Is it the thing that God wants?
Would God not say to himself "I gave them faith to trust me and so it is not an gift that they give to me"? God would that we in our hearts have faith in him and his abilities. He desires that we trust him. Faith is not received from God it is given to God.
This is why I ask you when you thought you were saved,to so you would contemplate it. If from birth till death a man has a portion in the works of salvation,he then is his own savior. He then is an replacement Christ in that he has substituted his own works for the works of the true savior.
Some will ask me how I know for sure you are saved,but in fairness they should ask me if I thought that you believe it. It's a tough one for sure the question I ask,lol. Remember the scriptures you gave when you said "thats a tough one". We often highlight in yellow the portion of words based on our eschatology,,highlight "come to the knowledge",,that is become aware of something,believe it.
None can come to the knowledge of it lest they first believe it,then they will have faith in it, who will hear it unless it is said? I am not in a panic to save you you see. If I seek to save you then do I not believe that I am sent to save you and then therefore am another savior?
I ask you if you knew you were saved and when. I ask you if you knew you were saved. Here is the burning house where one is plucked out from the flames. That is if one is not sure because he doesn't know when he was saved and by who he is in agony. He is tossed from one doctrine to another in search for it.
He is in pain,he is not sure of his children's salvation nor his wife's he has no assurance that even his parents are saved. He is thirsty,hungry and it is never quenched.
Again when one comes to the knowledge of the Gospel of his salvation he is at peace. He then understanding that Christ is who saved him and that he himself did not will then see the same salvation prepared for his own family. He will then have the great fear of the unsure mind removed. Who can thank God for salvation unless they have faith in it?
I did not ask you when you believed you were saved to catch you in a snare. I ask you to have you ask your own self. If my intention was to drive you afar off and not count you an brother I would have not ask you. The full intention is to have the weight removed and the fire put out.