Paul's Change of Heart

If someone says that Paul was a Christian and left Judaism to follow Jesus, No Christian will argue...  However, if someone says that Paul was not a Christian, but instead a Jew who's eyes were opened to the Messiah in which the Jews of his day were looking for, you will probably get dragged out into the street and beaten.  I have looked and it is true, No Where in the Bible does Paul ever call himself a Christian, nor does any of the other Bible writers.  Instead, Paul calls himself a Jew, a Pharisee, a Hebrew, an Israelite, and of the sect called "the Way"..  Acts 21:39;  23:6; 24:14; 26:5, Philipians 3:5, Romans 11:1, 2 Corinthians 11:22.  Notice the "present tense" in these verses.  The only thing that I can see that changed with Paul was his name (Saul) and that he became a believer in the Promised Messiah, Yeshua.. Maranatha, John