Was Paul the FIRST Member of the Body of Christ?

‘Mid-Acts-ers’ claim Paul was the 1st member of the body of Christ. When asked for a scripture verse to support that claim .... they give 1 Tim 1:16, and say, "Paul said ‘In me FIRST,’ .... so he was the first member of the body of Christ."

When we examine that position with the verse .... we see that the scripture makes NO MENTION of a member of "the church, the body of Christ":

1 Tim 1:16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

Now let’s look at it again, this time,

# 1) in CONTEXT with the verse before it,

and # 2) with ..... (oh, no!) .... the GREEK!

1 Tim 1:15-16 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am
chief [protos].
16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me
first [protos] (like "chief" in the verse before this one .... like, ‘mainly,’ as the ‘principal’ one) Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

For an extra frame of reference, consider Jesus words to His 12 disciples:

Mark 10:43-45 But so shall it not be among you:
but whosoever will be great among you,
shall be your minister:
44 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest [protos],
shall be servant of all.
45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister,
and to give his life a ransom for many.

When the prodigal son returned home, notice the ‘type’ of robe his father gave him:

Luke 15:22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best [protos] robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:

Using "in me first" .... to try to convince people that Paul was the first member of the body of Christ .... does not look like a [protos] idea to me!

This is David Dowell, saying, "Think about it!"
.