You are right on two of those counts. Evolution says diddly about how the first cell formed. It only deals with what happened AFTER life already existed.
Your both right and wrong here. You are right that evolution only applies to things that satisfy certain criteria of imperfect replication and heritability of traits, which may be termed 'life'. You are, I think, wrong to suggest that 'life' necessarily arose with the event of the first cellular lifeforms.
TTFN,
WK