Leviticus 16 is the main ground of the New Testament references as to atonement or propitiation, and one and the same term is used there of all the work of that great day.
The substance of the atonement or propitiation was the sacrifice offered to God. The slaying of the victim, the carrying in of the blood, and the dismissal of the confessed sins (to say nothing of the incense at an early point and of the burnt offerings at the close) were each and all aspects of the same one work.
The atoning work of Christ is a whole and "finished" here below, as Himself said.
When the Christian looks at Christ on the cross, given in infinite love, yet withal abandoned of God, His God, drinking the cup His Father gave Him, suffering infinitely for sins, sin itself judged on His Person-there it is that both conscience and heart rest by faith according to the fullest revelation of the Word. He believes without hesitation that all was made good there and then. He does not limit the work any more than the Person of our adorable Savior: It immediately penetrated heaven and is the ground of a reconciled universe for eternity. [43]