Similar to the clue in Romans 9:24-25, here is another clue in Romans 2.
Romans 2:14-15a “(for when Gentiles who don’t have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them”.
Here are some people called “Gentiles”, but they have the Law written on the heart. Based on Jeremiah 31:31-33 and Hebrews 8:8-10 those “Gentiles” must be Israelites of the dispersion, the ten tribes. Once one realizes the correct meanings for words like Jew and Gentile, many clues given to us in scripture are understood.
The word Gentile does not mean non-Jew. The Greek ethnos is nation/race. Ethnos is sometimes translated as Gentile. Gentile is the Latin word for nation/kin. Nation would have been the best translation for ethnos. However, nation has sort of lost it’s meaning today. A nation, by definition, is a group of people of the same kin or race. They are a related people. Once more than one race of people try to live in the same land, the word nation does not really apply.
When one sees the word Gentile in scripture it is necessary to discover who is being discussed. Context and a knowledge of the history of the peoples who are mentioned in the new testament is helpful.