In his letter to the Galatians, Paul was writing to a church who began their journey through faith in Christ alone and in his Holy Spirit. They believed in his work on the cross and his resurrection, and upon believing they were filled with the Holy Spirit, which permanently sealed them as God's Property until the day of the Lord (which is the second coming of Christ). Unfortunately certain Jews came in to their fold and tricked them, saying that since they'd joined God's family, they now had to honor their "heritage" and become circumcised, obeying the whole Old Testament law. Someone was telling them their simple faith was not enough.
In one instance, the Apostle Paul calls them fools for believing these Jews, and he tells them they have been alienated from Christ if they really want to go backwards and obey the Law. The issue is that the Law was an accusation against us, pointing out our sins and our inability to shed them in our own strength. Every written word in the Old Testament law was written so that we would see our sin, and it would become to us utterly sinful, making us mindful of our need for a savior.
Jesus Christ is that savior, and the bible says the Law was nailed to the cross with Christ and taken away from us, that we could be justified not by our obedience and works but by simple faith in God's Son. "It is by grace you are saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves. It is not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9). If you have believed in Jesus by faith, asking him to be your Lord and Savior, you are justified and free to live your life without a heavy burden of rules, laws, and ritual regulations.
I struggle with the flesh. I know the hurt and disappointment that comes when I indulge a fleshly or lustful impulse that is contrary to God. I have a feeling these Galatians knew that feeling all too well, and perhaps this is why they were susceptible to the lie of Satan, which is that they needed the Law to truly walk righteous. After all, the Old Testament law and the Ten Commandments are full of rules one could believe are helpful towards building a righteous man.
I suspect Paul knew their desire to avoid sin might've led them back into Old Testament bondage, which is why he spoke with them about walking in the Spirit. He had these words to say: "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." (Galatians 5:16-18)
Paul was letting the Galatians know that rather than obeying rules or laws (which were meant to condemn them and lead them to seek a savior), if they kept with the Savior and walked in his Spirit they would not do the things that made their consciences guilty towards God. He gave them a list of those evident works of the flesh (hatred, envy, impurity, sexual immorality, to name a few), and then he contrasted it with this list: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23)
Notice that Paul said there was no law against the fruit of the Spirit. I believe this was to ease the conscience of the Galatian church and give them a defense and an answer for those who were holding the law over their heads. "You want me to obey the law? Watch me walk in the Spirit of freedom and do the things the law requires by GOD'S POWER. And when you see the fruit of the Spirit in my life, you will know that I am righteous because I simply believe in Jesus, not because I observe the law, like you."
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