1It was for freedom that the Messiah set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

The Messiah redeemed us so that we could be free from the bondage of sin and be able to freely live out God's commandments. Paul was exhorting the Galatians to continue in this freedom and not to submit to the "yoke" of slavery of the Influencers. A "yoke" is a Jewish idiom to refer to the way one interprets and applies the commandments of God. Paul was simply reiterating what he had been saying all along: the Galatians should not obey the teaching of the Influencers, for in doing so they would again be put in a position of bondage before God. In other words, they wouldn't be trusting in God's way of salvation.

2Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, the Messiah will be of no benefit to you.

Obviously, the word "circumcision," here, must mean more than the simple cutting of the flesh; otherwise, many men throughout history are in trouble. To "receive circumcision" is to go through the ritual of a proselyte to achieve a legal Jewish status. Choosing to gain legal Jewish status in order to be reckoned a legitimate part of the community would be like telling God that the Messiah’s death wasn’t good enough for salvation.

3And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Torah.

It's possible that the term "whole Torah" was a phrase that the Influencers used to describe their teaching. In other words, their teaching was the "whole Torah" whereas Paul's teaching wasn't. If that was the case, then Paul was using this term ironically. What the Galatians were perhaps not taking into consideration was that by submitting to the Influencers’ "whole Torah" they would be submitting to the common ruling that legal Jews couldn’t fellowship with non-Jews. This would segregate the Believing community, not to mention segregate the Gentile Believers from their families.

4You have been severed from the Messiah, you who are seeking to be justified by Torah; you have fallen from grace.

If a person thinks that they can be counted as a true part of Israel by becoming legally Jewish, then they aren't relying on the Messiah and the grace He brings. They will have been severed from Messiah. To clarify, I don't believe Paul taught that once you're saved you can fall away. Those who have genuine faith in Messiah cannot fall away. Paul confirmed this in verse 10, when he said that he has confidence in them because he believes they are true Believers (as indicated at the beginning of chapter 3 when he recalls to their minds the time when the Spirit changed their lives). Paul was using strong rhetorical language so that the Galatians would not submit to the teaching of the Influencers.

5For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.

It's God's work that secures our salvation. Additionally, it's by faith (itself a gift of God) that we rely on God for our salvation. The phrase "hope of righteousness" conveys the "already but not yet" aspect of our salvation. Are we saved now? Yes. Do our actions and our surroundings fully express that salvation? No, we still sin and the Messiah hasn't returned yet. In God's eyes, we have been declared righteous, but it hasn't fully manifested itself in This World and it won't until the World to Come.

6For in Messiah Yeshua neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.

Having or not having legal Jewish status is irrelevant when it comes to having genuine faith and the resulting life of love-based obedience that springs from that faith. Paul made similar statements in 6:15 here in Galatians and also in 1 Corinthians 7:19:

For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. (Galatians 6:15)

Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God. (1 Corinthians 7:19)

Interestingly, to Paul, the statements "faith working through love" and "a new creation" are parallel to "keeping the commandments of God.”

7You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. 9A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.

Paul was reinforcing the fact that the influence to become proselytes is not the truth and is, in fact, hindering their walk as a Believer. In verse 9, Paul uses imagery from the Feast of Unleavened Bread: in the same way that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough, this false teaching could easily spread throughout the assembly.

10I have confidence in you in the LORD that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear his judgment, whoever he is. 11But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished.

Paul was confident that those who demonstrated genuine faith would not succumb to the Influencers and would hold to the truth. Obviously, the Influencers' message and Paul's were different. He asked them to think about why he'd been persecuted. It wasn't because he was proclaiming salvation through legal Jewish status; to do so would undermine the power of the cross. The stumbling block of the cross is that both Jew and Gentile are equally under sin and need salvation.