“If others were in Christ before Paul, how can Paul be the first?”
That’s a good question — and it gets right to the heart of understanding how and when the Church, the Body of Christ, actually began.
Let’s take a closer look 👇
1. Paul’s Own Testimony
“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.”
— 1 Timothy 1:16
Notice that: “in me first.”
Paul doesn’t say “among the first,” or “one of the first.”
He says in me first — a clear statement of being the first member of something new that God began through him.
Paul wasn’t simply another convert added to the same program that began in Acts 2.
He was the pattern — the prototype — of those who would be saved under a brand-new dispensation.
2. A New Dispensation, a New Program
Paul later writes:
“If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward…”
— Ephesians 3:2
This dispensation — the grace program — was given to Paul, not Peter or the twelve.
And Paul says it was a mystery hidden in God, “not made known unto the sons of men” (Ephesians 3:5, 9).
So the Body of Christ — the “one new man” of Ephesians 2:15 — did not exist before Paul’s salvation.
It began when the risen, glorified Christ revealed Himself to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9).
3. What About Those “in Christ” Before Paul?
Romans 16:7 mentions Andronicus and Junia as being “in Christ before me.”
So how does that fit?
It’s simple when you rightly divide.
The phrase “in Christ” doesn’t always mean “in the Body of Christ.”
Those “in Christ” before Paul were part of Israel’s program — the believing remnant, the “little flock” (Luke 12:32), the kingdom saints.
They were “in Christ” according to prophecy, not according to the mystery.
To be in Christ means to be identified with Him — whether as Israel’s believing remnant (under prophecy) or as members of the Body (under the mystery).
• The kingdom saints looked forward to the earthly reign of Christ.
• The Body of Christ is seated in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6).
Two different hopes. Two different programs. Two different agencies.
One for the earthly kingdom promised to Israel, another for the heavenly calling revealed to Paul.
4. Why It Matters
If the Body of Christ began before Paul, then his statement in 1 Timothy 1:16 makes no sense.
If others were already part of the Body, Paul could not be the pattern.
But Scripture is clear — Paul is the first in this new dispensation of grace.
Through him, God began a new agency — not Israel renewed, but a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), a new man (Ephesians 2:15), made up of both Jew and Gentile in one Body.
Israel’s Program vs. The Body of Christ
▪️Israel’s Program
• Prophecy revealed since the world began (Acts 3:21)
• Earthly kingdom (Matthew 6:10)
• The kingdom offer (the final prophetic phase) of that program began at Pentecost (Acts 2)
• Led by Peter and the Twelve
▪️The Body of Christ
• Mystery kept secret since the world began (Romans 16:25)
• Heavenly position (Ephesians 2:6)
• Began with Paul’s salvation (Acts 9)
• Led by Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles
▪️Conclusion:
God’s dealings with mankind changed when He saved the chief of sinners — Saul of Tarsus — and turned him into the Apostle Paul.
Through him, God revealed a new dispensation, a new gospel, and a new Body.
That’s why Paul says:
“Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”
— 1 Corinthians 11:1
He’s not boasting — he’s inviting you to follow the pattern that began with him.
