Transformation and self-justification

As he grows in Christ, one disciple has noticed that "self-justification ain't what it used to be":

I have a settled internal system of self-justification. It used to be a smoothly-whirring machine, silent and reliable, so that I never even sensed its presence. If I got angry, the anger was always automatically justified. In fact, it was most definitely "righteous indignation" of the Christlike kind. If I lashed out, the victim always deserved it. Ah, those were the days. . . .

Indeed.