Galatians 5:10-12

I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.

(v10, NIV)

Here Paul is reassuring those at the church in Galatia of his confidence in them. He is confident in them and their faith and hopes for them to remain solid in their walk with God. The schemes of the false prophets placed the judgment of God upon those they were deceiving. They were teaching that it is through the law that we are justified. Paul then places the judgment on the deceivers. These false teachers are the ones who will receive the judgment for throwing others into confusion. Notice that causing confusion and discouragement is another quality of false teachers.

Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.

(v11, NIV)

Verse 11 seems to be a response to the false teachers. The false teachers seem to have spread this false report that Paul was preaching circumcision. This is another quality of false teachers. False teachers spread false reports about spiritual leaders. Paul needs to defend himself. Paul poses the question that if he was preaching circumcision, then why is he is being persecuted? Circumcision has been the main factor causing both Christian Jews and non-Christian Jews to persecute Paul. The Jews held firm to the exclusivity of God. They held fast to the idea that God was only the God of the Jews and in order to receive his blessing, you'd have to become a Jew. Paul clearly points out that it is by grace we have been saved through faith. It is not by the law that we are justified. Since it is not by the law that we are justified, it is not by circumcision that we are justified. Because Paul was a firm believer in this, the Christian Jews and non-Christian Jews were persecuting him. Therefore, the claim that Paul preached circumcision was wrong because he was being persecuted for this fact.

The other thing Paul points out is the offense of the Cross. The offense of the Cross is nullified if it is by circumcision that we are saved. It denies Jews a higher status as the reason for God's blessing. The blessing only comes through the cross. It is through the cross that the judgment of God is removed by Christ's death. The offense of the cross is also to anyone who wants to claim some personal merit as the basis of God's approval. So, people who want recognition from God for being a Jew, or people who want recognition from God from anything based upon their own work is offended by the offense of the cross.

As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

(v12, NIV)

The last identifying mark of a false teacher is that they emphasize sensational rituals. Paul sees where they are going with this whole circumcision thing in their attempts to be justified by the law. However, in their attempts to elevate themselves to others and to God, Paul sarcastically encourages them to go even further and emasculate themselves. Their emphasis on outward bodily rituals is what proves them to be a false prophet.

A lot of what I got for this and last post was from this commentary:

http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Gal/Exposing-False-Teachers