SELF-JUSTIFICATION

It is a vain attempt to make oneself appear 'good' in the eyes of others by minimizing faults, exaggerating successes, or rationalizing bad behavior. You can eventually fool yourself into believing your own 'life well-lived' narrative. 

It is one thing to deceptively seek man's approval, but quite another to bring your fictitious resume before a holy God. Your 'self-aggrandizing' storyline carries absolutely no weight with the Lord ...

For we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (Isaiah 64:6)

People desperately want to be accepted and thus present a 'false front'. If and when one's failures do come to light, shifting blame is often the knee-jerk reaction. Trying to justify sin this way won't work ... 

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10)

Self-justification is equivalent to creating an 'idol'.

Paul warned of this ... For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. (Romans 12:3)

This, of course, is not limited to religious people. Secular individuals often seek justification through acts of social justice, humanitarian efforts, or moral living. But God’s standards are such that we cannot meet them in the flesh ... 

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Any ill-fated narcissism (or what others think of your 'paraded pedigree') is irrelevant in the end. 

To be truly justified in God’s eyes, you must be 'in Christ'.