The Ungodly

 A friend is working her way through Romans and finding that Augustine and Luther may have been leading us down a wrong path.

This is a question and answer from a Dr. Johnson on Michael Heiser's web-site that seems to make a similar point. 

Romans has portions written about gentiles and portions written about Jew.  Specifically the word the "ungodly" is a reference to gentiles.  

I am not saying it has a gigantic effect on my day to day walk with God, but it does clear up some things and make some other things more clear for those who want to go deep in the text and the things of God that are revealed. 

"Q: It sounds like you have an interesting take on Romans 5:6 (“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly”). Please defend yourself.

A: In Jewish tradition the “ungodly” (asebes) person was the Gentile, meaning that he lived his entire life outside of the covenant of the God of Israel (Prov 11:31: “If the righteous will be recompensed on the earth, how much more the wicked and the ungodly [asebes, LXX]”). So I think Paul is now bringing the majority Gentile audience in Rome into the Levitical story, saying that Jesus did for the non-Jew what the Leviticus sacrifices had done for the Jew: make them ritually pure. This was huge news, as the death of Christ now meant that the Gentile was able to approach the God of Israel without going through proselytization (Acts 14:27: “And when they had come together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith/loyalty to the Gentiles”).   Dr. Johnson Responds to Questions on His Atonement Discussion - Dr. Michael Heiser