One of the principles upon which God operates is to give his children only as much of the law as they are able to live. Otherwise, if he gives laws to his children that they are not able to keep, then they would come under condemnation. God has said, “I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.” (2 Nephi 28:30. Italics added.)
In relationship to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, this principle of the Lord works somewhat as follows:
1. “For unto him that receiveth, I will give more”—in other words, unto those who accept the Book of Mormon will be given additional scriptures (such as the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price).
2. “And from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have”—those who believe the Bible is enough and who say they do not need the Book of Mormon, from them shall be taken away “even that which they have” (the Bible). Thus, readers of this prophecy should not be surprised to note that since 1830 the Bible has largely been “taken away” from the Christian world. When the Book of Mormon was published, most Christians and nearly all Christian ministers believed the Bible to be the true word of God. However, after these same people rejected the Book of Mormon, they largely lost their testimonies of the Bible until now only a comparatively few Christians (and very few Christian ministers) actually believe the Bible is the true word of God.