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As to the writings of Paul concerning those without the law,his arguments have to be deconstructed very carefully,word by word in context of the day & the culture he was in to understand them properly.The reason Paul is so misunderstood is that his intellect was so highly developed,& he argued on such a high plain that to try and understand what he was trying to get across on a cursory reading is like trying to so microsurgery with a chainsaw.Sorry for the graphic there,but I hope you get the point.Paul speaks of obedience here,which would cause & has caused many to think that he was saying that through obedience we are saved.that is EXACTLY what he is saying.The rub is,obedience to who or to what?When Paul was still Saul,he said that according to the law,he was blameless.He was blameless according to the law,because he "jumped through the hoops" of the law.The problem is that we do not worship the law.we do not put our faith in the law.Those who are "obedient" are they who are obedient from the heart.Paul was saying if you read the whole of chapter 2 of Romans that they who are the "true sons of Abraham" (for later in that passage Paul speaks of circumcision,the outward mark of a son of Abraham) are the ones who are circumcised inwardly,that is in the heart,as Paul says in that passage.When Paul speaks of those without the law it sounds like he is saying 2 things.God gives every man,woman,& child a conscience 14(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) The key here is that the conscience of any person will accuse them when they are wrong,as long as they will listen to it.The problem is in our thought process, When we either listen to our conscience,or we rationalize it away,thus muting our conscience.The 2nd thing I think I hear Paul saying is that God will reach everyone who will be saved,regardless of where they are, with His word,as God did with Ruth in The book of Ruth.Ruth was a moabite,& in the law it pretty much stated that there was no hope for a moabite.But by faith Ruth left Moab & went with Naomi to Bethlehem,becoming a stitch in that scarlet thread that led to Christ.Also we see in the new testament the story of the Samaritan woman in John 4 who took Christ into her heart by faith in a matter of verses when Nicodemus,who was a teacher of the law that we see in John chapter 3 did not understand for 16 more chapters.I know that this is highly flawed chronology & a tortured analogy,but it is food for thought 
