The apostle spoke with earnestness and evident sincerity, and his words carried with them a weight of conviction. Claudius Lysias, in his letter to Felix, had borne a similar 422 testimony in regard to Paul's conduct. Moreover, Felix himself had a better knowledge of the Jewish religion than many supposed. Paul's plain statement of the facts in the case enabled Felix to understand still more clearly the motives by which the Jews were governed in attempting to convict the apostle of sedition and treasonable conduct. The governor would not gratify them by unjustly condemning a Roman citizen, neither would he give him up to them to be put to death without a fair trial. Yet Felix knew no higher motive than self-interest, and he was controlled by love of praise and a desire for promotion. Fear of offending the Jews held him back from doing full justice to a man whom he knew to be innocent. He therefore decided to suspend the trial until Lysias should be present, saying, "When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter."

Apostlen talte med alvor og øjensynlig oprigtighed og hans ord var prægede af overbevisning. I sit brev til Feliks havde Klaudius Lysias givet udtryk for det samme med hensyn til Paulus optræden. Desuden havde Feliks selv mere viden om den jødiske religion, end de fleste anede. Paulus klare redegørelse for, hvad der var foregået, gjorde det muligt for Feliks endnu tydeligere at forstå, hvilke motiver der havde behersket jøderne under deres forsøg på at få apostlen kendt skyldig i ophidselse til oprør og forræderi. Landshøvdingen ville ikke stille dem tilfreds ved at lade en romersk borger dømme uretfærdigt og heller ikke ville han udlevere ham til dem, så de kunne henrette ham uden lov og dom. Dog kendte Feliks ingen anden bevæggrund end sine egne interesser og han lod sig kun lede af trangen til at blive rost og ønsket om forfremmelse. Frygten for at krænke jøderne holdt han tilbage fra at yde fuld retfærdighed mod den mand, som han dog vidste var uskyldig. Derfor besluttede han at opsætte forhøret, indtil Lysias kunne være til stede og sagde: "Når kommandanten Lysias kommer herned, vil jeg påkende jeres sag."