and sent Timothy, our brother and God's servant in the Gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith;
The means used to effect this confirmation was the ministry of the Word, see Acts 15:32, 2 Peter 1:12 : neither laying on of hands nor the impartation of the Holy Spirit is mentioned in N.T. in connection either with sterizo or with its synonym, bebaioo, 1 Corinthians 1:8, 2 Corinthians 1:21, etc (Hogg and Vine 93).