Note 18 at Gal. 5:10: Paul had expressed doubt in this very letter about whether or not these Galatians would return to faith (Gal. 4:20). Here he is saying he is confident that they will come back to faith alone as the way they relate to the Lord.

Note 19 at Gal. 5:10: Paul is preaching grace, and yet he pronounces judgment on those who had troubled the Galatians with these legalistic heresies. The only people that Jesus ever openly rebuked were the legalistic Jews who totally rejected grace (see note 1 at Mt. 23:1, p. 445). This fits well with James' statement in James 2:13: "For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy. . . ." The worst sin of all is self-righteousness. God is longsuffering to all manner of sin, but those who maintain their own holiness as sufficient fall under the judgment of God (see note 4 at Jn. 3:36, p. 100).

Paul may not have been wishing this judgment to come on these legalistic Jews. He might simply have been stating the inevitable conclusion of their actions. It is true that those who proclaim that God is a harsh, judgmental God, giving us only what we deserve, get what they preach. Paul knew this first hand. At one time, he had been more legalistic than any of these Jews he was rebuking (see note 20 at this verse, below).