Hi to all . There are many points of view as to when the Body of Christ began , 1) I believe that 1 Tim 1:15,16 , tell us who the first one was in the Body of Christ .2) Faithful is the WORD and worthly of all reception , that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners , of whom I am PROTOS . 3) The Greek word PROTOS means FIRST , unless you are talking about RANK or Dignity , which is not the case HERE .4) Yes Paul was very bad person , and he felt bad about persecuting that Assembly before he was saved. And in v16 , but for this reason I was given mercy , in order that in me PROTOS ( first ) Christ Jesus might show forth all LONGSUFFERING for a PATTERN of the ones coming to believe on Him unto everlasting life . 5) What this teaches us is , that Paul was the FIRST one saved in the Dispensation of Grace , and that is when the Body of Christ began .