IOM Statement of Beliefs

Belief Statements Contained Within This Document:

• God
• Jesus Christ
• Holy Spirit
• Spiritual Gifts
• Scriptures
• Man
• Salvation
• Resurrection
• Heaven, Hell and the Return of The Groom (Christ)
• Church
• Missions
• Para Church Organizations
• Counseling Ideology
• Women in Leadership

God
We believe in the only true God (John 17:3), the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19-20). He created all things (Revelation 4:11) and upholds all things by the Word of His power (Hebrews 1:3). In Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). He is a God of truth and without iniquity, He is just and right (Deuteronomy 32:4) and He shall judge the world (Psalm 9:8).

We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes and perfections, and are worthy of precisely the same homage, confidence and obedience (Mark 12:29; John 1:1-4; Matthew 29:19-20; Acts 4:3-4).

Jesus Christ
We believe in the total deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus is the Husband of the Bride of Christ (the church) Rev.19:7. We believe He is the manifestation of God in the flesh. We believe He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. We believe Him to be true God and true man (John 1:1, 1:14, 1:18; John 14:8-9; 1 Timothy 3:16).

Holy Spirit
We believe in the total deity of the Holy Spirit and that His ministry is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ (John 16:14). The Holy Spirit regenerates and enters the sinner upon belief in Christ, baptizing the believer into one body of which Christ is the head. The Holy Spirit indwells, guides, instructs, fills, comforts and empowers the believer for godly living (Mark 13:11; John 14:26; John 16:13; Romans 5:5; 1 Corinthians 3:16). The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, of God's righteousness and of coming judgment (John 16:8-11).

Spiritual Gifts
We believe that God gives each of His children a minimum of one occupational gift and chooses to manifest His "sign gifts" as He desires. While we believe that the Scriptures do not teach that certain gifts have ceased, they indicate that use of the gifts vary according to the need that each gift meets. IOM does not believe an emphasis should be placed on spiritual gifts, rather the Body of Christ should seek to emphasize the more excellent way of love (John 16:8; 13:15; Titus 3:5; Ephesians 1:22; 4:11-12; Romans 8:9-17; 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 12:4-5, 12:11-13, 12:19; Galatians 5:25; Hebrews 4:1-4; 2 Corinthians 12:12). We believe that any and all "tests" given to determine spiritual gifts are subjective but can be used to gain a general understanding of potential gifting.

Scriptures
We believe the Scriptures of the Old Testament and New Testament are verbally inspired by God and inerrant in their original writings. We believe the 66 books of the Old Testament and the New Testament are God's complete and sufficient revelation and therefore carry God's authority for the total well-being of mankind (Psalm 119:97-104; Psalm 119:160; Matthew 5:18; John 5:46-47; John 10:35; 2 Timothy 3:15-16).

Man
We believe man was created in innocence under the law of his Maker, but by voluntarily transgressing, fell from his sinless and perfect state. Consequently, all mankind is born into sin. All people are sinners not only by inheritance, but by their own choice and therefore are under just condemnation without defense or excuse. We believe that without exception every man and every woman is totally depraved and needs a Savior. We believe the only solution to this problem is Salvation through Christ Jesus. (Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 3:10-19; Romans 1:18, Romans 1:32; Romans 5:1-2).

Salvation
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice. We believe that each person who by faith receives Him as personal Savior is justified on the basis of Jesus Christ's shed blood on Calvary. Each person who receives Christ as personal Savior is born again of the Holy Spirit and thereby becomes eternally secure as a child of God. We believe the Holy Spirit baptizes each believing person into the body of Christ at the moment of salvation, then the Holy Spirit indwells the believer and that there is no second baptism of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:37-39; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 12:13).

Resurrection
We believe in the resurrection of the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, His ascension into heaven and His present life for us as High Priest and Advocate (Acts 1:3; Acts 1:9; Hebrews 7:25-26).

Heaven, Hell and the Return of Christ
We believe in the "blessed hope": the personal, premillenial return of the Lord Jesus Christ. His return has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost. The saved are raised to eternal, conscious bliss in heaven (Matthew 25:34; John 14:2; 2 Corinthians 5:1; Revelation 2:7) and the lost are raised to eternal torment in hell in conscious separation from God. (Matthew 8:11; Matthew 10:28; Matthew 13:49-50; Mark 9:47-48; Luke 12:5; Revelation 21:8).

Church
Upon accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, a believer becomes part of His body, which is the church and becomes the Bride of Christ. There is one church universal, composed of all those throughout the world who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The Scriptures command believers to gather in order to devote themselves to worship, prayer, teaching of the Word, observance of the ordinances (baptism and communion), fellowship, service to the body through the development and use of talents and gifts, and outreach to the world in fulfillment of the command of Christ to make disciples of all believers (Ephesians 5:23; Romans 12:1; Acts 2:42-46; 1 Corinthians 14:26; Matthew 28:18-20).

Wherever God's people meet regularly in obedience to this command, there is the local expression of the church – under the oversight of elders and other supportive leadership. The church's members are to work together in love and unity, intent on the ultimate purpose of glorifying Christ (Ephesians 4:16).

Missions
Realizing that the cause of Christ extends beyond any one local fellowship, we commit ourselves to an ongoing ministry of extending the call of Christ to make disciples around the world (Matthew 28:19-20).

Para Church Organizations

We believe that all non-profit ministries are to be considered an extension of the local church. We believe each Para Ministry should function as an outreach to the church as a whole, not as a replacement.

Counseling Ideology
The Lord changes lives and accomplishes His purposes directly through reading, applying the Scriptures and trusting the moving and power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish the transformation. We believe the Lord uses counselors/disciplers to give direction and encouragement to all hurting individuals. It is our belief that the "helper" should use the Word of God as their primary tool to encourage, exhort, admonish, edify, implore, reprove, rebuke and counsel.

IOM will not use "vain philosophies" (Colossians 2:8) to guide and direct. It is our belief that God does not need clever or "unique" insight and/or techniques created by man to do His work of service. We endeavor to restrict the temptation of integrating the Word of God with psychological ideas and techniques in ministering to others. We believe the Word of God is active and alive (Hebrews 4:2) and it is through His spoken Word that the mind, will and emotions are redeemed.

IOM will avoid using labels such as "addictions", "bi-polar" and other related terms used to describe the condition of man. We not only believe these labels give opportunities of excuse but it places the individual in a position of requiring solutions from the "science" that came up with them. Labels "box" people in and often times restrict them from being set free, as well as offer "identity statements" for the individual to live by. In 2 Peter 1:3, the Word tells us that God has given us all the answers to life and how to live a life of Godliness. This is why we are committed to assisting others in becoming freed from the labels of mankind – not laboring to add more!

Our purpose in each session is to practically show the individual how put away the "self life" and allow Christ do the living through them.

Women in Leadership
IOM supports God's role for women as defined by the Holy Scriptures. The Word clearly states that women are not to exercise authority over a man. We understand this view is not "popular" or "culturally" accepted but we hold to the scriptural guidelines stated for the role of men and women (1 Timothy 2:12; 1 Timothy 3:1-2; Titus 1:6-9). God created men and women equal but we accept the fact that He has clearly established a difference in the roles they are to carry out. We believe the primary role of women are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the Word of God will not be dishonored. Titus 2:3-5