What Paul substitutes for ethnic traditions is the presence and power of the Spirit conveying the meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection to a lost and desperate world.

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           My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,  so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power (1 Cor 2:4-5).
    
           The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.... We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us....we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:10-12, 1 Cor 2:16).

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Paul sets up an alternative to the "spirit of the world," which is to say the dominant social mores, the common racial and religious traditions.  Instead, the one who believes in Jesus is liberated from cultural baggage and given membership in God's universal Kingdom.  It is very important to realize that this alternative is not merely a new doctrine, but an impartation of the Spirit of God, induction into a new society and the bestowal of a new identity.