The greek word here is 'aphesis'. It can be translated under appropriate circumstances as either forgive or as remit, but in this particular case it should be 'remit' because it connotes a purchase/payment transaction (forensic). It is not a decision to "accept" an otherwise unworthy person. Remission of sin is the forensic purchase of sin by the Blood of Christ. We must not reduce it to God saying "I forgive you" or "I accept you.
The doctrine of forensic justification thus goes back not just to Calvin and the Reformers, but back to Nicaea and the early Church. Mistranslation of the Nicene Creed opens up possibilities for understanding justification as the RESULT of asking for forgiveness rather than the result of God's plan of salvation that centers upon the Cross.
To reiterate from an Anglican point of view, the 1979 Book of Common Prayer changed the Nicene Creed in such a way that the Christian doctrine of Justification is turned into a Pelagian formulation where man reaches out to God. 1979 BCP thereby contradicts the "39 Articles" which were first included with the 1662 BCP and which state "We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ..." Specifically, the 1979 BCP removes forensic justification (remission) and replaces it with justification that is dependent upon having a conversation with God in which 'forgiveness' is asked for and received.
Moreover, by saying "baptism for the remission of sins", we know that the Nicene Creed teaches that life as a Christian begins with the remittance; that we are justified by Grace and presented for Judgement on the basis of it. The core theology of Baptism is forensic cleansing. It has little to do with the sincerity of our promises to do good works, and nothing to do with our effort of pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps.
Sidebar: In the 1979 BCP, an unBiblical doctrine of both justification and Baptism are found. A "Baptismal Covenant" is said to exist between man and God. By contrast, in the Bible and in earlier Prayer Books, the "Baptismal Covenant" is never directed mentioned. It is commemorated and conferred to the believer in Baptism as a covenant between the Son and the Father, relying upon the forensic remission of sins.