There are several key "all" phrases in Romans, and here is the first. All who sin will perish, it does not matter if you are under the law or not, ie it does not matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile. People often raise the argument against the gospel "what about those who have not heard". This makes a mistake. No one will perish because they have not heard the good news, they will perish because of their sin.
Paul here is addressing Jewish pride. Having the Law on its own did not matter, it was doing the Law that mattered.
NIV puts verses 14-15 in brackets, but it is better to see them as part of the main argument, rather than an aside. The original does not have any brackets anywhere, and has the word "for", indicating it helps to explain what has just been said. This partly addresses the "what if they have not heard" argument. All human beings have some sense of right and wrong, and the good actions of a Gentile put the Gentile in a better position than the bad actions of a Jew, even though the Jew has the Law.
So the emphasis is on what someone does. Note that Paul states quite clearly that part of the gospel is the fact that everyone will be judged on the last day through Christ.
Now is all this hypothetical, since no one will be found innocent on their own merits? I would say yes and no. It is absolutely true that no one can stand on their own merits, all of us are guilty. However, the gospel also brings change, and the Holy Spirit is producing a people who will live for God. A repeated refrain in the Old Testament is "they will be my people and I will be their God" (eg Jeremiah 32:38). In Revelation it says the bride (the church) has made herself ready and speaks of the righteous acts of the saints (Rev 19:6-8). Now transformation takes place as a process in our lives, but also at the last day we will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye (1 Cor 15:52). So God will have a people who are truly His, who are what we were always meant to be.
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