Acts 13:12

‘Then the proconsul, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.'

Amazed at what he saw the Lord could do, as he might well have been, the pro-consul believed. In lieu of Luke's usual usage this must signify that Luke sees him as becoming a Christian. He would no doubt have had good reason for believing it as a result of what happened in the future. Luke wrote many years afterwards and would have known whether his faith survived. There is some later evidence that his daughter and other relatives were possibly Christians. (It should be noted that Luke does not tend to overstate the response of people. Compare how he quite openly admits that Felix only sends to hear Paul because he hopes to obtain a bribe from him (Acts 24:26)).

It will be seen here that while the Jew, Bar-jesus, rejects Paul's message, the Gentile, Sergius Paulus, receives it gladly. This is to be the pattern for the future. It will also be noted by glancing at the analysis at the beginning of this chapter that this appearance before the pro-consul parallels Paul's later appearance before the pro-consul Gallio in Achaia (Acts 18:12), the twofold point being established in each case being, firstly that, like the Apostles (Matthew 10:18; Mark 13:9; Luke 21:12), Paul testifies before rulers (Acts 9:15), and secondly that the authorities of Rome did not condemn Paul for his teaching.