The ministry of law and gospel is better than cancel culture because:

-it more deeply and more accurately exposes sin,
-it points us to God's remedy for sin in Jesus Christ, and
-it directs us on the path of righteousness

Cancel culture is cruel in its judgment because it is indiscriminate and undiscerning, and hopeless in its prospects because it knows no way out of the problems it identifies.

When David prayed that we would fall into the hand of the Lord's judgment rather than into the hand of man's judgment (1 Chron 21:13), he knew what he was talking about. Even in his judgment, the Lord's "mercy is very great."

One implication is that we can't just "tack on" the gospel to cancel culture, as if the latter effectively fulfills the second use of the law. We must perform *both* the work of diagnosing spiritual maladies *and* that of curing spiritual maladies on the basis of the Word of God.

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

"And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account." (Heb 4:12-13)