Romans 2:14

(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,

(v14, NIV)

God shows no favoritism. This happens with regards to his judgment on us. However, some may understandably object to the fact that only the Jews were given the law. If only the Jews were given the law, how can God be impartial in his judgment? In other words, how is the standard of God's judgment fair if it seems that not everyone receives the law? If you think about it, it doesn't seem fair. You might think of it similarly to asking two people to build a bridge, but you only give one person the materials. That's not fair because one person has an advantage.

Paul's first response to this argument is that it doesn't matter whether you hear the law or you don't because you will be judged according to the truth given to you. Sinning under the law renders judgment under the law. However, for those apart from the law, their sin apart from the law will still cause them to perish apart from the law. In the previous verse, Paul says how it is not the hearers of the law but the doers of the law who are justified. So it doesn't matter whether Jews hear it and Gentiles do not. What matters is whether Jews obey the law and what matters is whether Gentiles obey the law.

This still doesn't really answer the question of fairness with regards to Jews receiving the law and Gentiles not having the law. Paul goes on to point out something about Gentiles. Gentiles do not have the law, but some of them follow the law or at least parts of the law. So even though they do not have the law, Paul describes this as being a law to themselves. They still have a law and this is a law unto themselves. They in fact do have a law of their own. Some of it may not line up with the law given to the Jews, but some of it does. The law is evident even in those who have not been given the law. It doesn't matter whether they've been given the law; some in fact obey the law. It doesn't matter whether you hear the law, but what matters is whether you do the law. They do in fact have a law unto themselves even though they were not given the law. They're not unruly filth who are the worst kind of evil, performing everything opposite to the law. They are not without hope if they do not have the law, but they are a law to themselves.