The exception that best proves the rule is the partial cremation of King Saul and his sons. As in the Old Testament, the New Testament pattern is always burial. The New Testament doesn't mention cremation. The Jewish custom was to honor the deceased by applying ointments and spices to the body. The early Church fathers preferred burial to cremation, which was practiced in the Roman world.
Burial symbolizes the promise of resurrection by anticipating the preservation of the body.
Cremation, however, symbolizes the pagan world-view of reincarnation. Cremation better symbolizes pantheism, which in its Eastern forms is usually associated with a salvation from the body by escaping the cycle of reincarnation. Finally, burial highlights the sanctity of the body. While God has no problem resurrecting the cremated, cremation does not point to the resurrection of God. Our motives are the primary consideration in everything we do.