The power encounter yields saving results: the governor comes to faith (2:44; 4:4, 32; 11:21; 13:39). But Luke is careful to let us know the necessary interdependence of gospel word and mighty act. He says Sergius Paulus believed, for he was amazed (literally, "struck out of his senses"), not at the miracle but at the teaching about the Lord. With this last little phrase Luke informs us about the proper role of miracle in evangelistic witness (see comment at 9:35). Sergius Paulus, the first totally pagan Gentile convert and a representative of the upper echelons of Roman society, stands as a model inquirer and convert for Theophilus, his fellow seekers and all since their time.