Let us now contrast Paul's service after he got saved with his service before he got saved. In every aspect, his service now was opposite to the way he had served before.
First, instead of serving without a vision, Paul served with a vision. He served with a vision not only in big things but even in small things. For example, in Galatians 2:1-2a he tells us about his going up to Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish religion. "After a period of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus with me also. And I went up according to revelation." The fact that even such a move was done by revelation indicates that Paul was serving with a vision.
Second, instead of serving traditionally and religiously, Paul now served spiritually. In Romans 1:9 he says, "God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son."
Can you discern what is traditional and religious from what is spiritual? Anything in the service of God that is not in the spirit but is according to the past is traditional and religious. We need to learn to serve not according to the past but in our spirit. This means that we should not imitate others and not even imitate our own past. If we imitate, our service will become religious and traditional. We need to have fresh contact with the Lord in spirit. However, if we serve merely according to what we know or according to what we remember, our serving will be traditional and religious. We need to exercise our spirit to contact the Lord to have something new and fresh. Then we will serve with our spirit, not with anything old.
In contrast to serving according to the knowledge of the Bible in letters, after he got saved, Paul served in spirit. In Romans 2:29 Paul says, "He is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart, in spirit, not in letter." This indicates that we must serve not in letter but in spirit. Concerning this, 2 Corinthians 3:6 says that the ministers of the new covenant are ministers "not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."
What is the opposite of serving with self-righteousness? The opposite of serving with self-righteousness is serving with Christ. When we do not have the heavenly vision, we have self-righteousness. When we have the heavenly vision, we no longer have self-righteousness—we have Christ. Then we serve with Christ, not with self-righteousness.