“What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith;” -Romans 9:30
Paul uses a Jewish idiom, pursue righteousness, in contrasting the standing of the Gentiles with the standing of the Jews. This means we should not understand Paul to be saying that Gentiles didn’t ever pursue righteousness. Many of them did. What they did not pursue is the righteousness of God. They weren’t pursuing a right standing before God the way the Jews were.
To say they have attained it without pursuing it, Paul means that it was imputed to them by faith in Christ. They attained the righteousness which is apart from the law.
“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:” -Romans 3:21–22
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