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When will you have the assurance that you have eternal life in Christ, as an absolute certainty?

What do you mean by "absolute certainty"? If that means a mental state in which faith and hope are no longer necessary, I doubt that day will come in this life. As Paul wrote,

16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:16-18)

The Spirit bears witness that I am a joint-heir with Christ. If I continue to suffer with Him, I will be glorified. I am as certain of that as I can be of anything.

However, I do not yet see the glory that I am to inherit. Until I do, I must wait with hope and patience:

24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. (Romans 8:24, 25)

You response is hallmarked by 'if': " If I continue to suffer with Him, I will be glorified. I am as certain of that as I can be of anything." You have been taught to see Salvation as conditional. That is anathema to what God has said and affirmed. For all of his faults, that is the truth Luther discerned while a priset in the Catholic Church ... so he left the Catholic Church to follow the truth. My salvation is absolute because of God's promise, not because of the life I live in the flesh. You made a nice effort to defelct from what you accurately perceived as the reason for my question to you. I appreciate your giving an answer, but you might have considered what Paul wrote regarding being ever ready to explain the hope that is WHITHIN YOU. Of course, if you have yet to expereince that Hope, in the indwelling presence of Jesus, then I can see why deflection is practiced.

You offer a strawman; not surprising: "If that means a mental state in which faith and hope are no longer necessary ..." First faith is not only necessary, it is THE GIFT OF GOD! I have a mental state that I am assured my Salvation rests not on my ability to prevent loss of redemption, rather I am absolutely mentally certain of Salvation because of God's promise. That is the Faith He places within you when you are born again! ... He is not a man that He should lie. When you are born again, you too will know that surety.